Dreaming and Chasing Promises
by Ninja0Squirl
Summary: Kraun, Zelloyd- "The world doesn't revolve around just you, there are issues to worry about, things that need to be done, can't you understand that, Zelos?" a series of events that lead to heartbreak for one couple, and love for another.
1. Chapter I Cinnamon

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter I. Cinnamon

_I would go anywhere to get to you, so why is it that all you have to do is smile to get to me?_

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Zelos Wilder, Twenty-three years old, 5'10, a redhead womanizer who didn't know the difference between pink and salmon, and had an unfortunate choice in hairstyles for a skirt-chaser, walked into the newly established part-Sylvaranti part-Tethe'allian town -Yamino- with enough purpose to make the citizens brave enough to move in move out of his way. He made his way to the pub, which was across the street from the newly established Martel Church, he forced himself not to start glaring, it was bad enough how serious he looked, if he started glaring they would probably call up some sort of force to take him out as being an 'imposter'. He sighed and walked into the pub/restaurant, trying to look more relaxed and less like he was about to kill his objective. Speaking of him....

Lloyd Irving, eighteen, 5'8, a brunette half-angel who continuously forget he had wings and had quite a bit of trouble with academics, though he was getting pretty good at acting to be the odd wise swordsmen -Zelos was confident that Kratos had somehow taught Lloyd this, along with his patented glare-, was currently seated at a table, looking uncomfortable, yet somehow bad ass -more proof that he'd got lessons from Kratos somehow- between two men who had apparently dragged him in here from the church. The men were acting extremely buddy-buddy with Lloyd, trying to get him to take a drink of his untouched drink. Zelos narrowed his eyes, and then forced himself to relax. He walked over smoothly, effectively ignoring the hot females at the bar who were sending seductive looks at him, and slid an arm over Lloyd's stiff shoulders.

"Hello bud." he says cheerfully, and with ease, he can feel the stiff muscles tighten further, freezing, the two men can obviously see the horror splayed upon his handsome face, and watch curiously as the new feminine looking man works his magic, though whether Zelos is a man or not is impossible to tell from the angle he's at.

"Z-zelos!" the hero of the entire world squeaked out.

"Bud, you seem so tense! Come on home so can, eh heh," he chuckled pervertedly, "_help _you." the men at Lloyd's side seemed to recoil at the last bit, and it took all of Zelos's willpower not to glare then and accuse them of being homophobes, right now was not the time, he needed to reserve his anger for later.

"Er... Zelos... uhm..." Lloyd tried to think up an excuse for why he was out, for why he hadn't managed to keep his promise to his friend, but he was in a bit of shock, a person usually is when the purpose suppose to be biting their head off is flirting. Not that Lloyd has fallen for that, no, he has become aware of that awful trick.

"Come on bud!" Zelos forcefully dragged Lloyd out, and once theyed reached a diserted alley, he pinned him to the wall angrily, "Why. Were. You. In. There?" he asked, anger making him clench his teeth to avoid shouting and attracting attention.

"L-listen Zelos, I don't feel very comfortable talking about this in an alley so, maybe, could we go back to the inn?" Zelos glare softened at the nervous tone, but intensified as he remembered his hurt.

"Not until you answer me, why were you in there?" this time, he managed to avoid the clinched teeth, but anger still showed through his quietly spoken words.

"The guys, Rick and Sam, they wanted to talk to me about future production of towns like Yamino, and introducing more half-elves into future towns, but it got so late..." he paused, unsure, "Look, I'm _really_sorry about it Zelos, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again!" Zelos eyes harden even further.

"_Sorry_? You think that will make up for it?" his anger at it's max, Lloyd felt true fear about it, he didn't see a single escape from this one, "I made you dinner you fucking bastard! And now it's all..." suddenly, Zelos's anger cracked, and Lloyd is holding him and agreeing that he is a bastard and that he extremely regretted missing a chance to eat Zelos's most likely delicious meal, and that he will cook breakfast to make up for it, but still, the tears are unstemmed as the ex-chosen clutches Lloyd's shirt.

"Listen, how about this, since I promised to be home for dinner, you're allowd to break one promise to me, okay?" Zelos looked up with red, wet eyes, and nodded hesitantly.

"Really?" he asked, knowing how Lloyd was about promises and their upkeep. Lloyd nodded, relieved that it had stopped Zelos's tears.

"Yeah." he smiled, "Come on, let's get to the inn before morning, once I finish here we can move on our exsphere quest, okay?" Zelos nodded, smiling a walked, hand-in-hand back to the inn.

If Lloyd had known the trouble that promise would cause him, maybe he would have never made it.

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In the darkness, as they lay pretending to sleep, Zelos can barely see his hand from his ass, but he can see Lloyd's hair, his cinnamon hair. It's funny how much of Lloyd reflects Cinnamon. His brown eyes, hair, even his taste, they are all cinnamon. Zelos longed for the taste of cinnamon more than anything else when Lloyd was way during the day, and he had nothing to do. He felt odd, playing housewife for Lloyd, he had come to terms with that, he and Lloyd were practically lovers, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was the more feminine one of the two, so it was natural he would be the housewife. He had started to practice whenever they had to stop because the cities they were in required Lloyd's help in someway or another, always Lloyd's never his. Lloyd hasn't realised, really, that Zelos has been getting up early and ironing his clothes, nor does he know that Zelos has started to try his hand at cleaning up their room instead of room service. Cooking dinner is just another goal on his list of becoming the perfect wife for Lloyd. Even if they aren't married yet.

"Zelos?" Lloyd's voice is what he imangined cinnamon would sound like if it had a voice, and it pleased him.

"Yes bud?" he responded, snuggling closer.

"Erm..." Zelos swore he could see his blush as the younger leans over and kisses him. Understanding quickly follows, and he responded swiftly. He had argued at first, when they had first started this rather awkward relationship, about being on bottom, but try as he might, it was either that or playing with Mr. Hand, Lloyd refused to lose anymore sense of manhood, and Zelos had to agree -not out loud of course- that he had very little to none respect as a man -Lloyd's exact words were that if Zelos got a gender change, nobody would be to shocked-, so he allowed himself to be on bottom, its funner anyway, he didn't have to do as much work.

"_Lloyd_..." he breathed out as the man licked around the place were his cruxis crystal rested, they were going to destroy it once the journey was over, Zelos couldn't wait, but for now, he was satisfied with the pleasure Lloyd gave him using it, it was fun, the mere though of licking that powerful orb or around it made him hot, but then again, the idea of Lloyd licking his bare chest worked just as well.

"_Zelos..._" Lloyd breathed back, his cinnamon eyes blazing in Zelos's regular old blue ones -no matter how much he insisted Zelos has the most extraordinary eyes he'd ever seen, he was confident his eyes were nothing special, especially considering how many people had them- , love seemed to flow between their very souls. Connecting them, like Fate's red twine. In fact, once, Lloyd had told him why he continued to wear red even though Zelos expressed his distaste over it, because he wore red and Zelos had red hair, when they were close, it really did look like they were connected by Fate's red twine. But, Lloyd wasn't wearing the red shirt now, so Zelos put it out of his mind, along with the color red.

"_Lloyd!_" he screamed, coming close to release.

"_Zelos!_" he screamed, they released at the same moment, sperm dripped from Lloyd's chest and Zelos's bum.

They stared into each other's eyes, and could see love radiating in those orbs, more powerful than any exsphere or cruxis crystal. This was something solely there's, the rabid townsfolk who enslaved Lloyd the moment they saw him, Zelos discontent with the long pauses and loneliness on their journey, Lloyd's guilt over everything, nothing could take away that power from them, as long as Zelos could have his cinnamon and Lloyd his blue ocean.

Sleep came quickly, and they were entangled together, a huge knot in the red twine of fate.

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They had been there for a week, a _freakin _week! It was only natural Zelos would grow restless. They had been traveling for a half year now, but, their days of sticking around a town was usually limited to one or two days, the longest before this had been three, but it was Sunday now, and they had yet to vacate Yamino. A whole week wasted! Zelos growled as he sat in the inn, upset. At least Lloyd was happy, he reminded himself, as long as Lloyd was happy, he could be happy, he reminded himself of that, again and again. But still, when Lloyd walked in smiling and laughing, he just about lost it.

"You should've been th-" he began, only to be cut off by the slam of a door as Zelos decided that he should make a quick exit, after deciding that he didn't particularly fancy the idea of murdering his lover, no matter how upset he was, "Zelos?" the red-clad boy made his way to the bedroom door, trying to open the door, only to find his boyfriend leaning against it.

"Go away." the voice was muffled, but the message still passed through.

"What's the matter Zelos?" he asked, oblivious, Zelos sighed.

"It's nothing, just go and have fun with your friends!" the bitterness in his voice gave him away with more ease than he'd wanted, and Lloyd figured it out quicker than he would have without the hint.

"Zelos... Listen, I'm sorry we've spent so much time here, but this is important, Yamino is the step towards the goal we all want, towards the end of discrimination. But we'll be out of here soon, the exsphere journey is just as important. Just imagine it Zelos, imagine a world were there is no difference between a human, Sylvaranti, Tethe'allian, elf, or half-elf, where you can walk down the street and not worry about being attacked because of _what _you are? Can't you see it too, Zelos?"

"We can leave soon?" came the muffled reply.

"Very soon, by Tuesday I think." the door burst open as Zelos hugged him.

"Only one more day of hell!" he shouted and then headed to the kitchen. Hell? Lloyd shrugged and decided to ignore the nickname.

"What are you doing Zelos?" he questioned, walking towards where Zelos had disappeared. Inn's usually didn't have personal kitchens, but this was in fact an old tenement converted into an inn by the people of Yamino.

"Cooking!" came back the cheerful reply.

"Why?" Lloyd asked, watching as the ex-chosen ran about, pulling out cooking utensils and such.

"Practise." he answered with ease, beginning on what Lloyd could only guess was some sort of stew.

"For what?" he asked curiously, watching as Zelos cut up onions carefully, almost as if afraid of being cut.

"Er..." he blushed, he had yet to mention his reasoning to Lloyd, and he doubted that the swordsmen would take well to it, "I'mpractisingtobeyourwifepleasedon'tlaugh!"

"Huh? Speak slowly Zelos." Lloyd walked closer, in case he started to mumble. though he did think it was cute how he was blushing.

"It's just..." he hesitated again, "I figured since we're together and all, and I'm always on bottom, I should act more... wifey." the blush on his cheeks and the statement made Lloyd want to giggle, but he was to touched to say anything. Finally after a pause, he stepped forward and hugged Zelos from behind, kissing his still-red cheek.

"You're amazing." he said, and Zelos wasn't sure whether to be shocked or pleased.

"So are you." he answered instead, because it seemed right.

The stew never did get made.

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AN: First chap. done, Kraun is coming up next! (Look forward to the next chapter, Bittersweet)

Thought of the day: Taking in mind that the first person mentioned in a pairing is the dominate one (E.g. Kraun/Kranna), why is it that we say Colloyd and Shelloyd? Does this mean that Lloyd bottoms to these girls? Is Lloyd that much of a uke? Personally, I've always seen him as the kind who would never allow himself on bottom for fear of losing anymore manhood (My running joke), so yeah, what do you guys think on this issue?


	2. Chapter II Bittersweet

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter II. Bittersweet

_Kisses are like tears. The only ones that are real are the ones you can't hold back._

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Yuan Kaafei, 5'10, a half-elven bluenette who liked capes almost as much as theatrical thrills, walked into the dance club like it was an every day event, it practically was, he couldn't name how many times he had been there in the last few weeks, but it most of been quite a few. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyway, the Renegades were disbanded, the exspheres were being destroyed by Lloyd and Zelos, half-elven affairs were being taken care of by Raine -that trip also doubled as a tour of the world's oldest cities apparently-, that bratty kid -Genis- was off at Palmacosta university, Colette was running a charity and traveling the world as well, Regal was running his company, Presea was helping him out and destroying all the exspheres of the guests in Altamira, and Kratos... Kratos just wasn't here anymore.

He downed a shot of whiskey -the hardest thing the damn place carried- and sighed, being immortal sucked, especially since the hardest thing they had here was barely going to buzz him. Getting up, he watched as the strippers entertained, they weren't that good, he decided, not as good as... he couldn't even think the name anymore.

_Yuan_... he paused in shock, trying to find a source for the voice.

"Kratos?" he asked cautiously, barely able to hear himself over the music.

_Yuan..._ the voice repeated, he stood up and began to walk out, deciding that maybe spending time in the bar before heading back to the tree wasn't such a good idea anymore.

"Ergh..." he stopped himself from screaming or doing something equally idiotic in the knick of time, "Martel, what are you doing here?" he was referring to the summon spirit of course, the very summing spirit whose tree he was watching over in fact.

_Yuan, I am worried, Derris Kharlan is far off, the tree has been feeding off it's energy for so long... I fear we may need to keep a Kharlan fragment close to it once it's out of orbit._

"Martel, are you sure?" he asked, _that_ little tidbit had never come up in his equations.

_It is more of a hunch, but as Derris Kharlan was the soil it fed off for so long, I fear that it will need a fragment to survive until it can grow to be less nonindependent._

"But how? With Derris Kharlan so far off, how can we get back the mana fragment?"

_With some help and an unwanted rescue..._

"Huh?" he looked confused for a moment," You don't mean...?" the realisation was an unwelcome one.

_Yes, I will convince my fellow summoning spirits to help, and we shall have Kratos return with the Kharlan fragment._

"Wha....? But, Kratos..." he began, trying to give a reason to not do this, before sighing upon realising there was none.

_Thank you Yuan, I will speak with the others. Please speak with Kratos about this as well._

"Okay." he nodded solemnly and headed back to the tree, wondering if Kratos could kill him through the hologram.

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Kratos Aurion, 6'1, a redhead ex-noble, ex-mercenary, ex-cruxis angel, and ex-lover -he really was getting to good at collecting exes- had finally lost track of the days. He'd been counting them as sort of hobby, being unable to sleep, eat, or do anything relatively interesting other than brood, read, and practise swordsmanship could do that to a person. His days were so alike, that finally, he'd been confused enough to lose track. He wondered if that was good thing or not, before shrugging it off and beginning the count again, he decided to write it down this time. On the wall he took out his sword and carefully carved a nice, neat 1.

"Kratos?" it was hesitant call, usually he would've called and informed them of his orbit, he supposed since he'd finally lost track of the days, he'd probally forgot to do that when he was suppose to.

"We're currently about to leave Aselia's orbit." he informed.

"No, Kratos, Martel has a theory that Yggdrasil is to dependent on Derris Kharlan, and will need a Kharlan fragment to live off of until it grows enough to support itself." the hesitancy was replaced with coldness.

"I'll send a bit down." Kratos said.

"No, Martel wants a large piece that would be impossible for you to send down, she wants to..." he trailed off, as if slightly unsure how to voice the next bit.

"Spit it out." he growled out.

"She wants to use the other summon spirits to bring you back with a large piece of fragment." he didn't flinch, but he desperately wanted to, he doubted he could hold this composure longer, but then reminded himself Kratos _couldn't_kill him through the hologram, and that Kratos couldn't _kill_ him.

"What?" just because he was disconcerted and unable to fully process anything didn't mean he couldn't flash his patented death-glare.

"Eep!" Yuan flinched. Kratos paused, he could remember that noise, but not in such a circumstance as this, something else, something involving sneaking up on him, but his head hurt trying to remember.

"Yuan, I _am _not going back." he said, struggling to keep his grip of reality, it was hard, especially since his only grip was a hologram of a man who was terrified but trying not to look it.

"It's not my idea, Martel is the one who suggested it, and I have no say in what the summon spirits do or don't do, the only reason I'm going along with this is that I am the guardian of Yggdrasil and must inform you." the cold eyes and voice were back, and Kratos desperately wanted to figure out where 'back' was, but he couldn't, it seemed he lost track of a bit more than the days.

"I'll have the Kharlan fragment ready then." he couldn't argue against the summon spirits, no matter how much he would've liked to.

"Good." Yuan nodded and shut off the transmission, before curling into a tiny little ball and convincing himself not to start dry-sobbing.

Kratos, the one he adored more than anything in the world, was coming back. It was bad enough pretending to dislike him through the transmissions, but having him back... three thousand years out of four thousand, filled with torture caused by Kratos. They had been lovers once, connected through loses. Yuan had lost Martel and never loved again until Kratos, Kratos had lost many wives, always going to Earth and finding love, only to have her die prematurely. Their relationship had been a long one, a never-ending fairytale one could say. It's end had been a big fact 'Fuck you' to his face. Not that Kratos had meant it, it had all been an incident.

They had been on Earth once, and Kratos had gotten into a fight, usually this would've been no problem, Kratos was a bad ass after all, and could therefore lose no fight, yet, upon discovering that the child was one of his ancient descendants -Yuan had never been aware Kratos had knocked up a girl, to Kratos's margin, he hadn't either- all of Kratos fighting spirit seemed to have drained out, and he had been defeated with ease.

The injury he had sustained would've killed a mortal being, seeing as Kratos was an angel, it had done nothing, or Yuan had thought until the human had woken up with out the least clue why Yuan would be trying to kiss him. It had hurt, hurt worse than any pain on Aselia, but it had come, and Yuan had had to let it go, but that didn't mean he couldn't be bitter. Kratos had never been confused about the anger, even though he had no idea where it came from, he had always assumed he had to do with Martel's death, and had returned with a composed anger of his own.

That was how their battles had started, and how it would remain. This, Yuan knew, and Kratos would never know it, because Yuan kept telling his bitter heart what he assumed to be the truth.

"Kratos doesn't love me..." he said out loud, trying to remind his heart to keep up its stone wall, that they couldn't give in when they'd come so far, that as long as Kratos kept giving him those angry looks instead of weirded out and/or accusing eyes, he would be okay.

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The ritual the summon spirits do is admittedly hilarious, bit Yuan refused to laugh through it, partly out of respect for the summon spirits -except Gnome, because he was _trying _to be funny- , but also because of what the ritual would do. He could see Kratos headed back, a boulder-sized Kharlan fragment in his hands. Yuan has planned this out, he has placed himself at a distance that he can see Kratos, but cannot hear him, he's afraid what the voice spoken without the crackle of holographic speakers will do to him.

Kratos had not planned this out, he had arrived given over the Kharlan fragment to Martel, and questioned, almost in a worried tone, where Yuan was. Martel soundlessly pointed towards the grove of trees, where Kratos can just barely see a hint of tell-tale blue. He walked over cautiously.

"Kratos." Yuan said in greeting, hate covered something else underneath.

"Yuan." hurt flashed through his cold eyes.

A moment of silence passed as they stared at one another, then...

Yuan melts into the kiss, a blush dusting his face, his eyes closed as he allowed Kratos to support his entire weight. It was heaven, entirely heaven, perhaps even beyond. The kiss ended with satisfaction in both sides, and Yuan looked up with slightly glazed eyes and seemed uncertain for a mere moment.

"Kratos? How did you get back your memories?" he asked, still uncertain.

"Memories?" Kratos asked.

Yuan realised now that the kiss had been awfully bittersweet.

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AN: chapter two done, look forward to the next chapter Technology!

Thought of the day: (Spoilers for next chapter maybe...) Did you know that if you dream about a person's death it can mean two things, 1) you lack a trait that person posesses or 2) you do not need what this person repesents.

Also, this chapter is dedicated to my first reveiwer! WHOOP WHOOP! Drum roll please... Li-chan0767!!!!! Thanks for the reveiw, and just you wait for what's coming next.... . thanks for the response to my though on the day! n.n


	3. Chapter III Technology

Chapter III.

Technology

_It's funny how someone can live each and every day without knowing that their existence is the reason you live._

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_"Hey Zelos, look at this!" the redhead blinked, following the voice almost unconsciously, he almost called out when he spotted his lover, Lloyd, at the top of a hill, _Was that there before?_he thought quietly to himself, before bounding up it... except, he couldn't move, something was holding him back, he struggled, finding his wrists bound. He could see Lloyd up the hill, still calling to him, dressed in traveling clothes. Ready to leave, Zelos struggled furiously, managing to get one hand free, he pulled out his sword and stabbed his assailant. He turned, to see who it was, only to gasp in horror._

_"Lloyd..." he murmured in shocked horror, the redclad dual swordsmen rested at the end of his blade precariously, blood dripping down the side of his mouth._

_"Zelos... Why?" he turned quickly, only to see that that at the top of the hill another Lloyd still remained, but something had changed, something he couldn't detect. Pulling his sword out of Lloyd, in a panicked rush, he ran up the hill. It was so much bigger than he had thought, seeming to grow as he made his way up it. Gasping and panting he reached the top, only to nearly faint at the sight before him, it was still Lloyd, the same one who had been at the top, but... the red shirt was not naturally that way, it was a dried brown in some places, and crimson in others._

_"Lloyd?" he questioned in horror, Lloyd smiled, clutching his side as if the wound had no importance, and pointed outward, over the hill._

_"Look Zelos, it's finally finished..." he fainted, the wound finally killing him, Zelos hurried to catch him._

_"Lloyd!" he began to weep, and after laying the body down and closing it's eyes, he turned to look at what Lloyd had wanted him to see. He gasped, revolted._

_It was Yamino, but another version, one that was bigger, and bustling with people from all over the world. He knew it, he knew that this could not have been completed with ease... no, this had taken years, and... and he had been there all those years...._

_"No..." he cried again, for Lloyd's death, and his isolation from the world._

_"Zelos..." he turned in horror, spotting the corpse begin to move once more..._

_"No!" he screamed as it began to reach toward him, not a full body, but a rotting corpse._

"Zelos!" he opened his eyes wide, only to find his Lloyd, the nice safe one who he hadn't killed or hurt badly, shaking him and trying to wake him from the nightmare.

"Lloyd..." he clutched onto the familiar figure and squeezed him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder until he could no longer. They sat in silence, Lloyd whispering sweet-nothings and playing with his long hair. The silence was finally broken by Lloyd.

"Zelos... I have to leave soon, are you going to be okay?" he squeezed Lloyd tightly, as if reassuring him.

"I'll... I'll be fine." he answered, his voice cracking slightly, he wanted a glass of water, but more than anything, he wanted Lloyd to stay. He let go and laid back down on the bed, unsure how long they had sat like that. He watched as Lloyd prepared for the day, the strip show Lloyd gave him -on accident, naturally- slightly tainted by the horrid dream, he wanted to tell Lloyd about it, but was afraid to, afraid what it could be interpreted to mean.

"If you need anything, come and get me, I'll try to get home early so we can get a head start on packing, 'kay?" Lloyd gave him another smile and walked out.

Zelos cheered up a bit, this was the last day, by tomorrow afternoon they would be long gone from this nightmarish town! He got up quickly and began to pack up his stuff, deciding to get it all done, then reserve the evening for something more... exciting. He pulled out their bags and hurried along, planning out what they would do as soon as they got out of this Martel-forsaken town.

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Sheena Fujibayashi, 5'5, twenty years old, a Mizuho ninja who had yet to realise that wearing a normal shirt might prevent so many guys from hitting on her, stretched, her arms reaching the bamboo ceiling with ease. She ran a hand through her hair before pulling out a ribbon and tying it up into her normal style. Shrugging into her clothes, she walked outside and exhaled, a puff of air satelliting her head before disappearing. It was cold, but not as bad icy Flanoir. She smiled at the townsfolk of Yamino, grateful that there were so many people brave enough to endure each other despite their prejudices. She began to walk around town, having come as delegate from Tethe'ella to make peace with the newly formed town. She'd heard that Lloyd -and therefore Zelos- had been in town for awhile, she wouldn't know though, she'd only arrived yesterday. She strolled along the streets, a mayor had been selected, but according to most of the townsfolk they were all pretty much under the command of Lloyd, so she just needed to find the hero of the world easier than she'd have thought, he was surrounded by others, working on building a house.

"Lloyd!" she called out happily, waving an arm and cupping her mouth to get his attention,"Lloyd!" he turned, grudgingly, as if assuming it was someone else, before brightening up at her appearance.

"Sheena!" he called, before turning and speaking briefly with the others, they nodded and he ran over excitedly, "What are you doing here?" she smiled, feeling nostalgic at Lloyd's appearance, he looked the same, if not a little more bad ass -they all knew Kratos had to have been teaching him _something_...-

"Nothing much, just a delegate from Tethe'ella, I brought a peace treaty from the King, he wanted to get a jump start on this." Lloyd nodded happily.

"Great! I'll get the mayor to sign it tonight." he seemed incredibly cheerful.

"So how long have you been working out here?" Sheena questioned, curious.

"A week and two days I guess..." he furrowed his brow, as if unsure of the dates.

"Really? You worked on curving you boredom, huh?" he glared, but in a teasing way.

"It's not like I can get bored of something so important, and its really cool around here, I'll be sad to go." he looked around the town, a bit of pride painting his happiness.

"Hm..." she looked over the town, appreciating the craftsmanship put into the buildings, "Where's Zelos?" Lloyd looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected the question from her.

"In our inn room, he didn't really want to help out, so he's been hanging out there, he might be lonely, so you should go and visit him." Lloyd told her the room number and shooed her off, heading back to his work.

Regretting every step she took, she made her way to the inn. It was quite the surprise to discover that it was close to her own inn, a house she'd mistaken for a normal place. She blushed upon seeing the clear 'Inn' sign she'd ignored, and made her way inside, finding her way up the steps and knocking. The door was swung open with excitement, that quickly turned into disappointment.

"Oh... Hey Sheena." to say that Zelos looked like shit was an understatement. His long red hair was tangled and slightly ratty, shorter pieces hanging in his face. His pink clothes were crumpled and looked like they hadn't been washed in awhile, his face was pale, and bags were clear under his eyes. To sum up his appearance, it almost looked like he didn't care anymore.

"Er... Hi Zelos... How are you?" it was incredibly awkward, she wondered what had changed.

"Good..." he answered, an automatic response, "And you?"

"Good." she replied hesitantly, "So.... what do you think of Yamino?"

"It's cool..." it was odd, speaking to him without him flirting or calling her 'Hunny'.

"So... how's the exsphere quest going?" this was becoming a bit too much for her.

"Delayed." he answered, "Would you... like to come in?"

"No, I'm in a bit of hurry." she tried to smile in a way that wouldn't make him feel guilty,"I decided to stop by before I had to leave town..."

"Oh, if you want to talk to Lloyd he's on the edge of town." she nodded.

"I know, he mentioned that I should stop by and see you..." he nodded, "Well, I'll just go now..." she hurried to make her escape. It was strange, it had always been easy to speak with Zelos and get mad at him before, but now... he'd been so pathetic, so...

She struggled to put an emotion to the look in his eyes, and finally came up with one in revulsion, _Pain_.

Shuddering, she decided to high-tail it out the first chance she got, whatever had happened to Zelos in this town, couldn't have been good. She stopped a moment, wondering why she'd assumed it happened in this town... shrugging it off she headed back to her inn room, hoping to avoid poor Zelos for the rest of the trip.

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Zelos sighed, laying on the bed. He knew he looked like shit, and that he'd probably scared her off with his creepiness. He couldn't help it, Lloyd had made him promise to be himself, and being himself meant not flirting with Sheena. To be honest, he had liked the ninja girl, but he'd never realised how much of their relationship was compiled of him flirting with her and her slapping him, _though_, he admitted to himself, _It was cool having a conversation with her without being slapped...._he decided to skip over his housewife duties today, as such, his clothes hadn't been ironed -neither had Lloyd's, but he had an excuse there-, he hadn't cooked any meals or started on anything that might be considered food -he was regretting that one-, and he hadn't bothered to clean or do anything other than pack up items.

Three bags, one his, one Lloyd's, and one filled with weapons, spare clothes, and gels, rested on the bed, the room now noticeably empty. He sighed, happily, and collapsed upon the bed, his leg spread so that his legs enclosed the third bag and rested between the other two. He was exhausted, half from packing, half from not getting enough sleep the other night. But still, euphoria rested in his soul, he was leaving! Leaving this Martel forsaken town for hopefully forever! It was like telling him he was leaving hell and going to heaven, and perhaps It could even be considered that, the road was his home, and Lloyd was his angel -ignoring the fact that they both had wings they never used-.

The door creaked open, and he sat up, hoping that it wasn't another disappointment, Lloyd walked in and blinked at the packed up items. He walked over, and looked through them, as if apprehensive that Zelos has left out his items or done something else cruel. He smiled, like a child on Christmas, and leaning over the bag, kissed his lover in joy.

"Mm... Sheena came by." Zelos murmured into Lloyd's lips, clutching at the familiar red.

"Did you have fun talking with her?" he asked, teasingly, an unseen smile on his face as he began to work on Zelos's jawline.

"Not really..." Lloyd furrowed his brow, but moved on, enjoying the softness and taste of the redhead's skin.

"You're the best, you know that, right?" Lloyd asked, Zelos moaned, feeling the vibrations against his jawline.

"You seem to tell me that everyday, so I suppose its true." he smirked, messaging Lloyd's back and pulling him closer, the bag squashed between them.

It was bit unfortunate how many items were destroyed in the passion of the night.

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AN: Chapter three down, (Sigh) so many more to go.... Look forward to next chapter, "What was that for?" (Yes, that is the title.)

Thought of the day: I am thinking of adding mpreg to the story, however, the specifics of it allude me, so I'm going to add a semi-poll. Vote in your comments, okay?  
Options)

1) Have mpreg with both couples

2) Have mpreg, but only with one couple (Vote in Kraun or Zelloyd)

3) Don't have any mpreg


	4. Chapter IV What was that for?

Chapter IV

"What was that for?"

_A little jealousy in a relationship is healthy. It's nice to know that someone is afraid to lose you. _  
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It had been a week, Kratos noted, reminding himself to start keeping count, since he had arrived back on Aselia. He had not left Yuan's sight once since the kiss, and as much as demanded, pestered, and begged the half-elf with questions over what he had meant by 'memories', he had yet to receive an answer. It was annoying, but he had to admit, the sex was worth it, they'd been going at it like rabbits whenever Yuan could get away from tree -he wouldn't allow them to do it near the tree-. It was all rather confusing for him, he knew that he had use to hate Yuan, but know he liked -as in _liked_, liked- him, and that leaving the room was not a good idea. He also knew he had forgotten something, something very important, something about red, and that it had sent him away from Aselia, which seemed to have been a good thing at the time... but, he didn't want to see the red thing again, he was afraid, afraid what the red thing would do if it saw him.

_Who is the red thing?_ he asked himself, but no answer came, _Who is Lloyd? Anna? Mithos?.... Martel?_still no answers, it seemed like he knew so many names, but nothing about them, just randomly pulled from the air. It seemed the only person who was even real in his mind was Yuan. It was like he had never even left Derris Kharlan, except now he didn't have to give reports and could touch Yuan.

"Kratos, do you feel alright?" the red-headed swordsman blinked, looking toward the door and realising that he looked rather odd spread as he was on the bed.

"I'm fine." he answered, not bothering to sit up, for some reason, he had a feeling that this pose was turning Yuan on.

"Okay." the bluenette walked over, pulling off his clothes as he did so, the cape was always last, and on occasion, it didn't even come off. Kratos knew better than to pull off his clothes, Yuan liked to do it, to make sure they were both _ready_for the chosen activity. He moaned a bit as Yuan purposely brushed his hands and hair against parts of his body. Finally, he mounted Kratos, ready to start.

"Who is Lloyd?" all seemed frozen after the question, finally, Yuan closed his eyes, sighed, and cuddled into his chest.

"He is... a man you went on a journey with for quite a long time." they both knew there was more to this sentence, but Kratos did not pursue it.

"Did he wear red?" he asked instead.

"Yes." Yuan answered hesitantly.

"Oh..." _So Lloyd is the one I need to avoid..._

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Yuan did _not_feel guilty for refusing to tell Kratos the truth about everything, at least, that's what he kept telling himself. As much as he tried to justify his actions, he didn't particularly think he could. He was lying to Kratos, withholding information so he could keep the swordsman to himself. But, Kratos was back, and Lloyd deserved to know... but, he didn't want to tell Lloyd, he wanted to keep this going forever, to always be able to come to the small hut that was between the town nearby and the tree, and fuck Kratos, to always hear the words, 'I love you' as he was leaving, to forget his cloak sometimes and to put on the wrong clothes other times. He wanted this more than anything, and he did not want to share.

He was sitting in the sand beside the tree, brooding. He had drawn two comical figures, a chibi angel, and a chibi devil. Than he thought better of it, and erased the wings off the chibi angel, making it a chibi human. Than, without much thought, he transformed the devil into an angel, than to a human, and finally a half-elf, who -with quite a bit more erasing- began to make out with the human.... He sighed, this was really getting to be a problem...

"_Are you well Yuan?"_ he jumped in surprise, as anyone would if they suddenly found a summon spirit in their sand-drawings.

"I'm fine..." Martel sighed and sat next to him, leaning close as _his_ Martel had when she comforted him, he tensed, before reminding himself sternly that she had his Martel's memories as well as body.

"_You know Yuan, I admit to an alterior motive when I asked to bring back Kratos._" she said, and took the stick from his hand, drawing the edges she had accidentally erased.

"Do you?" he asked, not particulary paying attention.

"_Yes, it was because... Yuan, when I first came back, I thought perhaps it would be okay to go as things were before, but then I realised I had a responsibilty, and I could not allow things to remain the same. But still, so many things were different... little brother was dead, Kratos had departed to Derris Kharlan, even I had changed, but you... you were the only one who hadn't changed._" Yuan blinked.

"I've changed." he said, though it sounded defensive and idiotic, Martel laughed.

"_I know, I mean you haven't changed_," she placed a hand on his heart, "_In here._"

"Yes I have, I betrayed Mithos, fought with Kratos, and I don't..." they both knew the unspoken words, _love you anymore..._

"_I know, but I expected it... you've always fought with Kratos, and with Mithos ideals, I would have been surprised if you hadn't betrayed him, and, you love Kratos now... But, Yuan, I didn't bring him back for you to hoard him. I know you're afraid that he'll leave, but he doesn't have any memories right now, he's stuck with you, he_ can't _leave you, so share him with Lloyd awhile. Lloyd will only live so long, and then... then you'll have him for all eternity._" Yuan nodded, finally! A decent argument. But, still he was hesitant.

"I'll take him with to see his son when he's ready, Lloyd would just be upset if Kratos couldn't remember him." Martel sighed and stood.

"Please, Yuan, remember what I've said." she walked back to the tree.

"I will." he promised, and sighed, headed back to the cabin, he couldn't feel exhausted, but he imagined this was a close as he would ever feel.

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Raine Sage, 5'6, twenty-four, a half-elf who was in denial about her outfit being orange -it _is_-, sighed, this was... _different_. Everything was different. Some days, it seem bland, normal, a day when she longed for the familiarity of the road. Other days, everything was so foreign she felt like Alice in Wonderland. But days -days like this one-, everything was foreign _and_familiar. She would go to the school, teach, and then get asked as many questions as her pupils could about the eternal hero, her previous thick-skulled student, Lloyd. It was the basic monotony, but strange, because of not only this, but also because her old students weren't there. She wasn't normally absentminded, but her blond student, Betsy, looked quite a bit like Colette, to such a degree that sometimes she had to stop herself from calling her 'Chosen one, Colette'. Another, Kelley, was so much like Lloyd it was uncanny, he even wore a red suit, and the only difference was his spinach colored hair. The last made her sad on occasion, Jenus, who made it _far_to easy to slip up and say Genis, reminded her of her brother, naturally. Not only because of his name, but because of his hair style, looks, even race were the same, in fact, sometimes the only difference was his brilliant purple hair and eyes.

She missed Genis, alot. She had never, in all of her twenty-four years, been separated from him for so long. It seemed off, waking up every morning and fixing herself breakfast, -Genis had always done it for her, and she felt a little guilty for beating up the others for insulting her cooking, not that she would ever admit it was _bad_, it was just, _experimental..._ yes, experimentally dangerous-, was odd. Another sigh.

"Are you okay professor Sage?" she blinked, turning to Kelley, he wasn't as thick-skulled as Lloyd, but still, some ideas took a bit more force to wiggle their way in.

"I'm fine, return to your arithmatic." the boy sighed, as if disappointed.

"Yes professor..." he replied dismally.

She sighed once more -firmly telling herself not to sigh again-, and wondered what her sibling was doing at this moment...

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Genis Sage, 4'0, fourteen, a half-elf who was a bit to obsessed with learning -even if he wouldn't admit it-, sat in his dorm room, which was, in all facts, a room above Palmacosta's church of Martel. He was the only half-elf attending the university, but he suspected that would change in a few years, but for now... it was tiring, being ostracized from his classmates, not only for his age, but also for his race. Even Dexter, the boy who he had tied with in the exam before, made fun of him, or avoided him. It was as if they thought being nearby would infect them with his elven blood, and he had heard many of his classmates whisper desian whenever he entered a room. It sucked rotten chimera eggs being here, even with the exciting and stimulating classes, not that he was allowed to take place in the conversation, he was a _half-elf_, and therefore -dumber than nails.

He sighed, and finished his homework. Everything was weird in Palmacosta, and on his days off, he tried to raise half-elf awareness, only to have it all shoved in his face. The only person who ever seemed interested half the time were travelers who had met Lloyd in their journeys. Everything seemed to be going to hell, and he couldn't stop it. He wished Lloyd or Raine were here, they would be able to cuss out his idiotic classmates and convince people that half-elves were good people too! But, they weren't, and the only advice he had was from Neil.

_"Keep your head up kid, and conquer hatred with compassion."_ he had dismissed the statement at first, but now it could be said that it was practically his motto. Like when Ricky, an annoying pest who had bulk and brains -and also beat him up quite often- had tripped and fallen down, nearly falling into the ocean, who had saved him? Who had carried the heavy boy all the way to the nurse's office? And who had waited to make sure he was okay? He was still a bit bitter about that, all _that_ had gotten him was a 'don't touch me dumass' the next morning.

Why in the hell did things have to be so difficult? Why couldn't it run smoothly for once! Why? Why? Fucking hell, why?! He grabbed his pillow and smothered a scream into it. Sighing, he collapsed onto his cardboard cut-out of a bed and resisted the urge to go out and burn down the school while fire-balling the hell out those idiots. A knock interrupted his happy daydreams of destroying every one and all of them.

"It's unlocked!" he called, setting the pillow down and turning halfway to face the door.

"Genis, we're having five P.M. mass, and I was wondering if you would join us today?" he sighed, Priest Marche always visited and asked him to come to the five P.M. mass, the same answer was always given, naturally.

"No thanks." he turned, dismissing the priest.

"You know Genis, I think your classmates would be more accepting if you attended mass." he froze, glaring darkly at the wall.

"I don't care about them, and I won't go to mass." the priest, desperate to give it a label, walked forward.

"But why, Genis?" he asked.

"I'm not telling..." he answer stubbornly, sighing Marche headed to the door.

"If you change your mind, don't be afraid to come down." he walked outside, not expecting a response, he didn't get one.

"Idiot." Genis said, once he was sure the priest was too far to hear.

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AN: chapter four done... surprise chapter coming up (I forget its name, T.T)

Thoughts of the day (a more... AN version): well, Genis's monologue was something I really put a lot into, because usually me and my characters aren't on the same viewpoints, but me and Genis... when I thought he was going to die in the booby-trap I began to cry and shout "Not my bud! Not my bud!" (me and Zelos also go back, I'm kind of disappointed I can't write him pervy, because I _am_pervy, and that would add more character depth, but I personally don't think Zelos is _really_pervy) but anyway, I'm not actually a person who deals with racial tension much (I'm white, but I don't think that really matters), I have had my fair share, mostly because I've gone places and done things my schoolmates haven't, so I'm "rich" and because I'm white I'm "popular" as well. Tch, yeah right, I'm nerdy, low middle class (seriously, those vacations to Disneyland... all paid for by my mom's boyfriends -yeah, my nearly forty year old mom is that hot /typing that is as creepy as saying it/-) so yeah, I really don't like stereotypes, so writing Genis raging against his idiotic classmates was really fun for me.

Jeez... sorry for the rant.

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated not only to Li-chan0767 (Who changed her name to Regina of Nex Veil), but also to Skittle-Scattle! Yay! Two reviewers! I feel loved! ....I'm totally going to do something special to make them feel appreciated (and bring in more reviewers, hopefully), as for what it is.... I'll tell you when I stop being a lazy procrastinator (and stop trying to write original work -even though I already did write an original book, call Wintertown, get it when it gets published! /twiddles thumbs and ignores blatant advertisement/-)


	5. Chapter V Rumors

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter V.

Rumors

_Find someone who will stay awake just to watch you sleep._

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Zelos and Lloyd's relationship was not a secret. No, it was just so awkward and unnoticeable that nobody had realised it yet. But, such things couldn't remain unknown for long. It spread like wildfire, through glass windows and white picket fences of Lloyd's loyalty to Zelos. It was unexpected, and expected. Not that Lloyd or Zelos were aware, of course, they were on the road. To them, it was heaven. All that was needed was to be together, all that was _wanted _was to be together, and so, the days passed with happiness and eagerness. Zelos still practicing his 'house-wife' duties, while Lloyd practiced his swordsmanship and/or worked on badassness -Zelos was helping, just a bit-. So, everything was perfect on the road.

_Except_, that Lloyd kept on escorting strangers around, which either left Zelos stuck in one place to set up camp, or, -and Zelos just _loved_ when this happened- Lloyd would bring said strangers to the camp and having them stay awhile, which also meant no sex, because it _might_wake up their fellow traveler. Zelos was beginning to have doubts, not serious ones, not serious enough to even consider leaving Lloyd, no, just simple doubts about smiling happily and welcoming the strangers instead of cussing the hell out of them and kicking them out of the campsite like he wanted to.

He felt hurt that Lloyd hadn't noticed, hadn't noticed that he been acting oddly, that he had been restraining himself. It was like there were suddenly two Lloyd's, one Lloyd who kept telling him to be who he was, and the other Lloyd, the one who kept telling himself to slip into that old familiar mask and do what Lloyd wanted, charm the hell out of these strangers. But... it didn't matter, he had killed both Lloyd's, hadn't he?

_Where did that come from?_his brow furrowed, before he shrugged off the errant thought. Lloyd had wandered off that afternoon, so Zelos had the campsite to himself, sighing, he poked the dying fire and wondered if Lloyd would bring firewood or a stranger back with him. _Well_, he finally decided, _at least this isn't hell on Aselia like Yamino._ He rubbed his head, feeling a head ache form on his brow. Sighing, he decided to let fire die out and go to sleep, he suddenly felt... _exhausted._

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Lloyd Irving, was not an insensitive jerk, he was just a bit... thick. He could not help it if he did not understand that Zelos did not like to be locked up in a room. He did not understand that Zelos did not like to be left alone for a long time. In fact, the only thing that he slightly got was that Zelos disliked it when they couldn't have sex, and that was mostly because he didn't like it either. So, when Lloyd came back to the campsite -with firewood-, he was quite surprised to find the fire dead, and Zelos sounds asleep, close to it.

"Zelos!" he called, worried, dropping the wood, he reached over and pulled off his glove, feeling his forehead and frowning, worry clear in his face, "You're burning up..." Zelos rolled over slightly, his eyes opening half-way to reveal glazed over Cornflower blues.

"Lloyd..." he murmured, his voice hoarse, "I don' feel s' goo'..." Lloyd blinked, petting the ex-chosen's hair and sighing.

"We're close to Iselia..." he thought aloud, "I suppose we could..." he picked up his lover and completely ignoring their items spread about the campsite, began to make the two day walk toward his hometown as fast as he possibly could.

It took him only a day, and by that time, he was so exhausted he could barely carry himself upright, but he did not collapse, did not allow them to rush him into a bed until Zelos was safely tucked in, and then, he fell into a fitful sleep on the ground beside him, unwilling to leave his side.

Lloyd could be dense at times, but when he was improvising, he always did the right thing.

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Ember Royalle was a half-elf, but that wasn't the reason people disliked her, in fact, one could hardly tell she _was_a half-elf, and she could've lived her life quite peaceably side-by-side with humans, but she chose not to. There was a reason, and it was a terrible one. Simply, Ember Royalle did not _like_ people. She did not _like_sneezing, coughing, singing, music, reading, books, pie, cherries, children, any examples of devotion or tenderness, in all facts, she disliked _everything_ but destroying relationships and making fun of people she believed to be 'idiots'. In all truths, if she _was_a fictional character, it would be that she had no character depth, and would mostly likely be labeled an evil version of a mary sue or a terrible version of a loathsome parody for a villain. Of course, that was impossible, because _nobody_ in their right mind would dare write _her_ into a story, and if they did, they would kill her off after the first paragraph.

Naturally she was not dead, she was alive, and she was in love, such things usually happen to the least likeliest of people, but as she saw the ever-loyal man drag his comrade through the Iselia gates and not dare rest until he was sure the man was safe. She felt something stir in her that she had never known existed, her heart, it began to beat for this mysterious man. Finding out he was a well-known hero known the world over who didn't care for racial tensions was a plus.

Finding out he was gay was kind of negative. So, she planned the best idea she'd ever though of -she didn't think much-, kidnapping the man -Lloyd's- boytoy and hold him ransom for love... it just had to work out! Grinning evilly, she began to plan it out while trying to work in her garden -she also happened to enjoy plants, but only so that she could destroy them.

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Raine sighed as she tended to her charges, they were both such... she smiled, unable to be mad at them. However, while Lloyd's diagnosis was simple -exhaustion-, Zelos's was a bit, _more_. The red-head was suffering from stress, that had manifested itself into illness, she was confused about this, Zelos had obviously been under stress during their journey, yet it had never progressed to such a point that he would become so ill... She narrowed her eyes, looking over at her old student, he held the answers, and she was growing impatient at his lengthy nap.

Suddenly, her annoyance disappeared, and almost unconsciously, she raised her hand and yawned -long and loud-, she blinked her eyes and tried to keep awake, her yawns kept coming, the time between them growing less and less. Finally, she ducked low into her chair and closed her tired blue eyes, murmuring to herself, "Only... few minutes..."

Chuckling evilly -she liked to do that as well-, Ember snuck in, glancing softly at the man she had decided to take for her own after barely an hour's thought, she grabbed his lover and high-tailed it out of the room, leaving behind nothing but a note so that Lloyd might find her. It wasn't long for him to wake up, Raine following close behind.

"Zelos!" he looked around, quickly finding the note.

_I have your lover,_

_Come to Mylkter to reclaim him -at a price._

- E.R.

Scowling, he didn't even bother to answer Raine's concerned questions as he bounded out the door.

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AN: Chapter five done, what's next is next.... Sorry for the short chappie, I've been feeling uninspired and I wanted to save the big Ember/Lloyd fight for chapter seven, I think the only reason I've been writing so far is because I _know_somebody is reading and looking forward to new chapters, and I can't stop and disappoint them, because I know what that feels like.

Ugh... dumb empathy...

Thought of the day: (This one is a bit...far off topic, more for those in US) Remember the Little Mermaid? Remember, when they were making the sequel, they released the Ariel doll that came with a Kelly dress as her 'daughter', who was blond and had curly hair? And how everyone thought that was how she would _really _look like that? Than they released the movie, and she _didn't_? I was kinda of pissed off about that, and they never released the doll version of Ariel's _real_daughter! Ugh... oh, and here's another thing! According to the musical (I need to factcheck that, but I'm pretty sure that was it in I want the Good Times back, but anyway) Ursula and Zeus are brother and sister, and if you're going by that, the kingdom was divvied up between them, each getting half, but according to the supposed "younger" sister, she got the icy seas, so the ocean would be split into threes? And, she mentions Ursula and her's mother, and how she always liked Ursula better, but would that not mean that Ursula's mother was cruel or practically blind of her daughters bad-doing? And if Ursula was favorite, why did Zeus get to be the king? Surely the previous king would've gone with what his wife thought?

Man... sorry for the rant, but I've been watching Ursula the Musical and I just got to thinking, and being generally pissed off at Disney, you know how that happens.

Oh, and sorry for the OC, I just... wanted to prove that Lloyd wasn't the jerk I was playing him out to be. To make up for it... awesome make-up sex! Yaaaaaaaay! (sorry, I just had a bunch of candy gummie... thingies, I'm not really sure what they are, but they make me hyper....)

Oh, and sorry for adding the chapters than deleting him (that probably messed with some people), but I had my second gardasil shot and I was all like "Sleepy... nomnomnom...." (Cause I had those candy gummies that I still don't know the name of) than I was all like, "Uploaded... nomnomnom.... crap! Need to spell check!" and then I was all like "Nomnomnom.... editing.... nomnomnom...." Gardasil ate my brain, so sorry if its messed up.... I hate these damn shots, on other note (purposely making a long AN....), here's a funny scene that should be in my profile quotes but won't be.

Me: (chillaxing with babies at my sis's daycare)..... MWAH! (playing kiss with the babies)

Mom: Okay! Time to go! We have to go get you and Chay's shots!

Teacher: What shots are you getting? (to me)

Me: Um... the shots that are optional but she (points at mom) made me get.

Teacher :(laughs)

Mom: (rolling in her eyes) It's the one less shots.

Teacher: Really?

Mom: Yeah, the ones you can only have if you're a virgin, so don't worry Cindi.

Cindi: Hey! I'm married, I'm definitely not.

Mom: (looking at me) See Bear? This is why you get married at eleven like Cindi, see, now she's thirteen and she's an adult now!

Cindi: (annoyed) I'm twenty-eight! (she's also what? 4'9? My gram thinks she's like a kid picking up her little bro/sis)


	6. Chapter VI Sacrifice

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter VI

Sacrifice

_A dream is just a dream until you make it true._

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Yuan Kaafei had a rather twisted life, on one hand, he had made more sacrifices than any other person, on the other hand, he hadn't made nearly enough for one of his age. As such, as he held Kratos close, making a decision was hard for him. On one hand, Martel was right, he had Kratos for eternity, Lloyd had him for, what? The next fifty years or so, if he was lucky. But, still.... He was so conflicted! Why couldn't he make up his mind? He was four thousand freakin' years old, surely he had enough experiences to make a choice?! Kratos looked up with his gorgeous eyes, the color of cinnamon-flavored candy, concern flooding his flushed face. If Yuan could, he would devour every inch of Kratos for the rest of eternity.

"Are you well Yuan?" the human's voice was like velvet, and Yuan felt like a kitten lapping at its milkiness. But... surely he could do this... for Lloyd? He sighed, his soul was exhausted, even his body wasn't -and it _definitely_ wasn't-.

"I need to talk to you about something Kratos." the immortal looked up at him, his usually bad-ass exterior replaced by the melting qualities of a uke. This was, and was not, his Kratos at the same time.

"What is it?" he questioned, Yuan couldn't stand to look anymore.

"Remember how I told you about Lloyd?" Kratos's eyes narrowed.

"I don't like him, he's the one in red, the one who sent me away." he said, clinging to Yuan.

"What?" Yuan hesitated only a moment before sliding out of his grip, "Listen to me Kratos, there's a lot I haven't told you, and this is the worst, Lloyd is... your son." suddenly, everything seemed less and less like real life and more like a soap opera. Kratos stared at Yuan in shock, before pulling up to look Yuan in the eye.

"Are you....?" he seemed unable to talk, the bluenette sighed softly, reaching up to stroke a lock of Kratos's hair, he flinched, and it hurt more than any blow he could've given.

"I'm sorry, but... you know what it's like, don't you? That longing? The fear that the one you love will disappear... again?" he looked at him with desperate eyes. For a moment, silence reigned between them.

Kratos _did_ know, he didn't know how he knew, but he could feel the pain Yuan did not want to feel, it scared him, and suddenly, he felt.... he felt strange.

"Yua..." he began to say, his eyes glazing over, before he screamed out.

Pain.

_What is.... No pain... impossible.._. His fragmented thoughts continued along those lines, unable to understand this horrid pounding in his skull, like a beast trying to escape from his skull.

"Kratos!" Yuan screamed out, clutching him tight as he collapsed. The angel's wings burst out, instead of the gentle way that they did usually, they burst through his skin. Blood-coated, Yuan stared in shock at the wings, then, in a panic looked over Kratos body.

_No... He... he removed his cruxis crystal! _In a panic, he pulled off his own, slamming it into Kratos's pale blue-ish skin. Almost instantly, the bleeding stopped. Frightened beyond belief, he watched as the human calmed, unable to pass out, he stared with unseeing eyes, his wings retracting, and wounds healing. With difficulty, Kratos sat up, then, in confusion, stared at him.

"Yuan?" he asked in confusion, as if unable to process why the half-elf was there in front him, then, as if feeling a breaze, looked down and blushed furiously, "Why am I naked?" panicked, dazed, and confused, Yuan stared at his lover, and burst out laughing in relief that he was okay.

"Thank goodness!" he cried out, before hugging the angel tightly to him, "Thank goodness!" blushing now more then ever, the human allowed the hug.

"Why are you naked?!" he practically screamed, as hilarious as the moment seemed, Yuan was suddenly hit full force by what it meant.

"Kratos, who is Lloyd?" the human seemed confused.

"Uhm... one of those townies?" he questioned. Fear, icy cold, dripped down.

"Who is Anna?"

"Uhm.... Lloyd's girlfriend?" that image was more disturbing than he'd ever realised it could be, actually... _No Yuan, bad boy! Incest is bad! Bad!_

"What about Martel?" Kratos looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Are you going to keep asking me dumb questions, instead of answering why we're both naked in some weird room and gosh, we didn't do... _anything_?" keeping a completely straight face he continued on.

"Answer me Kratos, who is Martel?" as if frightened, the man answered.

"I don't know, just stop asking me this stupid questions, your scaring me!" then, as if realising something, he began to inspect Yuan's face.

"Mar...." Yuan couldn't even finish, as Kratos began to feel over his face, his brow furrowed and tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth innocently. He began to inspect his face like a sculptor, feeling the small crinkles by his eyes, the laugh lines around his mouth, even the firmness of his cheeks had to be inspected with quick tugs.

"Why... are you old?" Kratos asked, confused and concerned. Tiredly, and he realised in surprise he was actually feeling tired without his crystal for once, he answered, with a worn grin.

"You're old as well."

"Huh?" he guided the human to the vanity, unsure if he'd be able to understand that he wasn't so young any more. He stared into the mirror a long time, putting his face under even more through inspection, followed by his own body, something Yuan felt jealous of.

"Kratos..." he'd been about to do it before, but, could he do it now..., "Kratos, we are both 4,029 years old." the human gone angel stared in abrupt shock, a doubtful laugh escaping his lips.

"You're joking, right?" seeing no hint of a joke in his dear friends face, he lunged forward, clutching the bluenettes shoulders with hysteric hands, "You're joking, right?" he pleaded. Yuan looked away regretfully.

"I wish I was." he looked up again, determination filling him.

"You have a son now, his name is Lloyd, he thinks you're dead." Kratos, let go of Yuan for a moment, looking at the ground. He was driven mad for a response, when the redhead looked up, his eyes were almost tearful, not that was possible for an angel.

"Am I dead?" he asked pitifully, Yuan answered with a small pained chuckle.

"No, you're just... beyond alive. You cannot die, or live." fearfully Kratos checked himself over.

"Does that mean I'm a zombie or a vampire or something?" he had forgotten how frivolous the boy had been in his youth.

"No, Kratos you, and I are angels." spluttering, the man seemed incapable of processing this.

"This has got to be a dream..." he whispered, unsure, mournfully, Yuan shook his head.

"Impossible, angels don't sleep. But, I can prove this is real." the angel turned to him unsure.

"How?" he asked. He paused a moment, unsure how to proceed with his plan.

"You and I have been... lovers for a long time. You lost your memory in a battle against another son a long time ago, and couldn't remember, then Lloyd sent you to Derris Kharlan, and when you returned, you could not remember much other than me, and we were... in love." the man was spluttering, looking disgusted and intrigued all at once.

"Wha-?" he began, but was interrupted.

"You must be honest with me," he leaned forward, and snatched Kratos into a mind-blowing kiss that the man had no memory of ever receiving before, "Did you like that?" he asked, pulling gently away. He was frozen in shock, afraid to move, and afraid to stay. Then, almost unexpectedly, he dashed forward, his bare body and amnesia ridden mind forgotten in a moment of pure adrenaline as he ran out into the night, uncaring of the little voice that kept _commanding _him to go back and let Yuan fuck him into the mattress.

Sinking into the bed, where so much love was made, Yuan sobbed, surprised that he could without the crystal. It was as if he was mortal again, and it couldn't have come at the worst time. He wished for a moment, that he was completely human, and could kill himself for causing Kratos such misery that he would run from him.

He'd tried once, to kill himself. He had taken off the crystal and hung himself. Mithos had found him three days later, and cheerfully remarked how he was brave to test how much power the crystal had given him without the crystal on. He didn't understand how it worked, but while an exsphere was only temporary, the effects of the cruxis crystal were so much more.. permanent. he was almost mortal now, he could hurt, and bleed, and taste, perhaps even sleep, but death was unattainable to him now. He sobbed, until he fell asleep for the first time in centuries.

_"Maybe... it was just a one-sided infuation.... maybe, I'm just to selfish to have ever realised it...."_

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AN: Chapter whatchamacallit done, so many more to go.... Look forward to the next chapter.... forget the name, but the next Kruan chapter will be called Sword & Shield, which will be hard to tie in, you know?  
Thought of the day: Today, I went to freshman orientation, and have come to conclusion that High School is not about learning, it is about personal contact, and that if had I elected to take sex ed. I would've been graded on how good I was at sex, and if I used condoms.... my school scares me. Anyway, looking back on this comment, I realised my story is a lot like High school, its all about the personal contact.

Now, on an unrelated note, I got a question! I'm so giddy with excitement! I really love when I get asked questions in reveiws, cause then I feel justified about answering it! (it's very weird to answer a question when it's not asked, you know?)

Nox Veil wanted to know who was seme and uke in my Kraun chapters. Now, if this was a normal fandom, that obeyed the laws of semeuke name slash, the answer would've been obvious, but we're in a really weird fandom that bends the rules of semeuke name slash, and allows females to be before males when they are not dominant simply because it 'sounds' better. So, as for the answer, it's actually Yuatos (That is such a funny word to say, I just spent like, ten minutes laughing with my much despised cousin over saying it) anyway, yeah, Yuan is the seme. Usually, I would've had Kratos be, but since he's all amnesiac, it's kind of hard, so yeah. Probably, when he gets his memories completely back, he'll be seme.


	7. Chapter VII Reunion

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter VII.

Reunion

_You are everything I never knew I always wanted._

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Lloyd was brash, bold, and unthoughtful. He went with what his gut told him like an angry caveman, and refused to listen to reason until it was beat into him by a stronger opponent -usually Kratos. But, Kratos wasn't there at the moment, he was very far away, or perhaps, closer than they realised, but who could truly say on the enigma that is Kratos? Either way, Lloyd was _not _about to allow the love of his life to be carted away by some mystery person with the initials E.R., and he was more determined than he'd ever been as he bounded out the door to find the Zelos.

However, there was a hitch to this plan, he had no clue where or what a Mylkter was, or how to get it. So, for a moment, he was quite hindered, and had to run back and inform a troubled Raine of the situation, then, regrettably drag her along, as she refused to give him directions to such a dangerous mission without her -and she _still_ didn't give him the directions, she _made_ him follow her.

According to Raine, Mylktar was an ancient village if half-elves, dating back before the Kharlan war, and was the only thing to survive untouched, overtime it crumbled, and was a faded, rather unknown part of the Aselia history. The reason, was mostly blamed upon desians, who had many ceremonies inside of its ruins in honor of their ancestors, unions between two half-elves were held there regularly, as well as funerals. It was viewed as a temple, a place where lives could begin -births were also common there- and end in peace. Lloyd was really getting fearful of this, it could be entirely possible that this 'E.R.' had brought Zelos here, so that if she had to kill him, she could do it in honor. He rushed Raine, until they arrived, then tore through the ruins until he found himself in the only structure that looked... livable with a bit of construction. He hurriedly wrenched open the wooden door -ignoring Raine's shouts of indignation over ruining her ruin-, and ran inside, coming face to face with the bitch who'd taken his lover.

He _really_ hadn't expected this.

Ember Royalle had been waiting for him, and had decided to dress properly for such an occasion. She was clothed in her fanciest of clothes, which was sadly very little except a silk corset and satin panties, both in a hideous shade of green -really, who ever did deem that a color such as that was suitable for normal wear? Lloyd winced. Despite the fact that most half-elves had lovely shapes -it was scientifically proven that since elves were so small and adorable, half-elfs would carry similar traits-, this was still not a pleasing sight. Ember,as previously mentioned, looked quite a bit like normal humans, and that was extremely true, especially in her form. She wasn't small, however, in fact, she was quite voluptuous, she looked like a pin-up model, a very disturbing and creepy pin-up model.

"You came faster than I expected." she commented, her long nails trailing seductively along her nearly naked body. Lloyd, who was loyal to Zelos in such away that he had actually convinced himself that no one else could be as beautiful as him, was very disgusted by her, so disgusted, that while perhaps any other man, even those of another persuasion, would at least agree she was hot, they just didn't like her like that, Lloyd was under the impression that she was the ugliest beast he'd ever seen. Though, his loyalty to Zelos and offense at her misdemeanors may have been influencing him a _bit_ too much.

"Where is Zelos?!" she seemed surprised, before smirking demurely at him, and slipping off her satin covered bed -which had obviously been shoved in there in hopes of seducing him quickly.

"Why would you want such a rat like _him_?" she said lightly, running her fingernails along his tanned cheeks, and wondering what his other set felt like. He growled, angered.

"Because I love him!" he shouted, like it was something obvious. She frowned, and waved her hand, making an old curtain he hadn't noticed before slip away. Zelos was in a state of disrepair, she had worked fast. He had been stripped down, so the damage was quite clear, long marks -obviously from Ember's nails- bathed his neck, light but painful. Slash marks, obviously from a knife decorated his chest and legs. Lloyd was frightened for a moment that Zelos was dead, with his fever he surely _wouldn't_ be able to recover from such horrible wounds. Then, as if lifting from the dead, the redhead awoke slightly, his glazed over eyes enough to alert Lloyd of his living state.

"Lloyd!" Raine shouted, recovering from the shock, "You must hurry, if I don't hurry and heal him, we may... lose him." the last part was added so low it was hard to hear, but Lloyd heard everything with perfect quality.

"You BITCH!" he roared, pulling out both swords and running forward. She didn't move, just calmly stood until he'd come to close for comfort, and then said something to freeze his steps.

"Ah-ah Lloydie, I hold his life in my hands." she flicked her finger and the curtain rose again, hiding Zelos from view.

"Give him back!" Lloyd shouted, still standing ready to attack in front of her.

"Not likely Lloydie, everything comes at a price, and his is a very high one." she walked forward fearlessly, and moved his swords down, he allowed it, afraid what she would do to Zelos.

"What do you want?" he spat angrily.

"It's very simple, you see, I'm a very _picky_ person, I dislike a lot of things, you're _friend_ most of all. But, there are things I like, and you are something I like." she leaned forward, and without regard, or care for how Lloyd felt, kissed him. He pulled away, or tried, she held him against her, and it felt almost as if she was sapping his energy from him. As it ended, he collapsed, barely able to stand, much less fight.

"..." his panting so hard he couldn't even speak. She smirked.

"Delicious." she murmured, licking her lips, she bent down and lifted up Lloyd's chin, "My price for _him_, is very simply, _you_." he seemed unable to speak, unable to even move.

"Ze..." he murmured, so lightly that last part of the name was inaudible.

"It is you, or _him_, but either way, I demand my payment." gathering his strength, Lloyd glared, and uttered a sentence he knew would either save or doom them both.

"What did _you_ ever do for us to owe you payment?" she scowled, and dragged her nails along his cheek once more, rivets of blood poured slowly down his cheek.

"Nothing. That is why you owe me, I never once did anything against you, or toward you. That alone deserves payment." Lloyd glared, and brought up his sword to land a surprise blow, he stopped, once more, as a soul-wrenching cry rang out.

"Careful Lloydie, one false move and I'm afraid I won't be able to control my temper." she was cruel, terribly so.

"Stop it! Don't hurt him!" then, exhausted, he bowed his head in submission, "Please... I'll... I'll do anything."

"LLOYD!" Raine shouted, a reprimand and plea at the same time.

"Professor, I can't lose him, too." was his response, and she recoiled at his tone, but understood, the wounds of his father's departure -abandonment with permission is more like it-, afterwords, Lloyd had become a bit more possessive of those he loved, they all received letters everyday from him, never a date skipped. For him to lose Zelos, his most precious person... it would kill him.

"I understand." she nodded, she mustn't let her emotions get the better of her, she must think logically, or else she would lose them, like her parents. Smirking, Ember allowed the curtain to fall.

"Take him away, and don't bring him back." nodding, Raine hurried and pulled Zelos from the ropes binding him, carrying him as gently as she possibly could, he needed immediate medical attention, but until she got out of this ruin it would be impossible, but either way, as soon as she had him steady, she was contacting the others.

Oh yes, the bitch was going to pay.

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Moonlight streamed into the ruins as Ember smirked, still clad in her less than appealing -to Lloyd, anyway- clothes. Lloyd lay on the satin bed she shoved into the ruins, he looked impossibly pale, as if fearful and ashamed, his body on clear display to her. She was excited, that much he could tell. He didn't want to do this, he was ashamed of even _considering _allowing her to do this. But... it was for Zelos, and even if it went against his beliefs, he would do anything for the man.

"Don't worry Lloydie," she said, her eyes showing no gentleness or reassurance, just greed, "this isn't just going to be a one might stand. I'm not like other girls, I'm not going to spend one night and give up my affections for you." she leaned forward, tracing a scar from a battle long ago. Lloyd didn't speak, couldn't stand to, he was... afraid.

It wasn't a foreign feeling. He had felt afraid many times, too many to count or name. Ones that came up with ease were when he had thought Zelos had betrayed them, and when he thought the world was lost. But, even they did not compare to this fear, fear for Zelos, fear for himself, fear for everything. He was filled with so much fear he lay paralysed on the bed as Ember climbed on top of him.

His fear did not disappear as the night wore on.

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AN: Chapter seven done, many more to go.

Thought of the day: Ugh... I think I'm going to be sick! I really _hate _even thinking about Ember, she sickens me, and I'm kind of regretting not killing her off after her introduction (she's so mean to Zerosu-sama!) But, she is necessary (aren't all the characters we hate? Except Remiel, he could've died in the opening credits and nobody would've noticed or cared) Ugh... so sleepy.... Because I haven't updated in so long (and came very close to putting up a hiatus) I am forcing myself to write chapters until my fingers start to bleed or my eyes start to (which ever comes first, you know)

I suppose _some _of you may be curious how many chapters there are suppose to be (notice how am I always complaining about how many chapters are left?) well I'm not telling! My friend gave me a challenge list (you know those titles and quotes, her doing, the meanie) and so I'm suppose to get the whole list done, or face my dooooooom! (as in- being banned from the Internet for like a month) So anyway, whoever can guess how many chapters I am suppose to write first, gets a free oneshot! Any fandom (even ones I don't know! Though it might be a little messed up if you request one of those), any pairing (even straight ones, which I don't write often), any challenge (even weird ones like Naruto Fandom, NaruLee, Lee likes pickles and wants to share his adoration with Naruto) so yeah, even if I am going WTF???? I'll still write it for you! But only if you guess the number!

Good luck~so!!! (I like saying Luckso! And Yuatos! ... That still cracks me up!)


	8. Chapter VIII Sword & Shield

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Sword & Shield

_I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special._

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Kratos paused to review his current status, he was naked, cold, and soaked to the bone in unfamiliar territory... he was pretty sure his father was _not_going to like hearing the story behind this one, or why he was suddenly twenty-eightish looking for some random reason. Of course, he had a story, Yuan's dumb story, but it was a lie, and he refused to humor the damn half-elf like that if he was just going to tease him like that! But, either way, he was really freaked out about now, and cold. He settled into the side of a tree trunk and began to warm up a little.

Of course, it began to rain as soon as he was a little comfortable, as if it was also on the annoying voice that kept _commanding_ him to do stupid things, like go to Yuan, or keep walking, or find a town.

_Will you just fucking shut up?_ he responded to the last one, annoyed and tired and still very, _very_ cold.

_"Not until you agree with me and get up!"_ responded the voice.

_You know what fucked-up voice, I am going to name you Anna, and pretend you're dead too._

_"Who's Anna?"_ Kratos seemed confused a moment.

_I don't know._ he shrugged at himself, then, slapped himself for doing such a thing, _Great! I'm suddenly twenty-eight, cold, in a unfamiliar place, and I'm going insane! While it's raining! Is there anyway this day could get any worse?_

It began to hail.

Glowering, he stood and began to walk, he was now in the firm belief the annoying voice -Anna- was in charge of the weather and forcing him to do this. It didn't help that it was laughing hysterically in the back of his head, which was quite annoying really. He continued to walk, and walk, and... Fuck, walking really sucked and took forever. Why the hell didn't he have wings for Martel's sake?

As if responding to the question, two shimmering purple wings burst from his back. Staring, he tried to reach back and poke one, only to have his finger pass through it. Beyond curious, he continued to poke it, until Anna yelled at him to use the damn wings and stop being a facking whiner -she did in fact say fack. So, he flew up, and began to do flips and spin and other things he really shouldn't be doing until he ended up in a heap outside of Palmacosta, barely able to recognize the town. He paused for a moment, unsure if it really was Palmacosta or not, or what a Palmacosta was, or were it was, and for some reason he felt the urge to title it Sylvaranti.

_"Don't worry, I'm sure it is... maybe." _the Anna voice reassured, somehow, that wasn't so comforting.

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Genis didn't often journey outside of Palmacosta's gates early in the morning, but, today was an exception, it was raining, hailing, just generally a bad day, the perfect time to practice his blizzard spell without anybody noticing a difference if he messed up. However, his plans were ruined when he spotted a naked all-to familiar figure in the snow.

"Kratos!" he shouted out, unsure if it was really him, but running forward anyway. The man was alive, surprisingly, and looking not to shabby despite his grungy state.

"How the hell am I still alive?" he shouted out, looking over himself, Genis stopped short unsure, that really didn't sound badass enough for Kratos to be capable of saying.

"Kratos?" he asked again hesitantly.

"Who the hell are you?" he questioned, curiously.

"I'm Genis, Lloyd's friend, we went on a journey only a few months ago." Genis decided to start off nice and fireball him later, it helped to get information.

"Not ringing any bells, hey did Yuan put you up to this?" he asked. Genis raised an eyebrow.

"Kratos, Yuan and I aren't speaking terms, he disappeared as soon as the tree came."Kratos looked really confused.

"Erm... I have a story that I want to run by you, and you tell me if its true or not, kay?" shrugging, Genis nodded and listening to the hard to believe story.

"Actually, I have no clue about you and Yuan's private life, but we kind of figured, Zelos and I had a bet over it. But anyway, the only thing I can confirm is that you are an angel, you have a son named Lloyd, and you are 4,029 years old." Kratos ran a hand through his hair.

"Geez..." he murmured. Genis sighed.

"I should have Raine look at you, even if you are immortal, but first, come back to the church with me, Pastor Marche will probably have some spare robes for you to wear."

"Robes?" Kratos squeaked.

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Extra since the chappie was really, _really_ short: (Martel Centric)

Chapter 0

When Yuan loved me

_When Yuan loved me  
Everything was beautiful  
Every hour spent together  
Lives within my heart_

And when he was sad  
I was there to dry his tears  
And when he was happy so was I  
When he loved me

Through the summer and the fall  
We had each other that was all  
Just he and I together  
Like it was meant to be  
And when he was lonely  
I was there to comfort him  
And I knew that he loved me

So the years went by  
I stayed the same  
But he began to drift away  
I was left alone  
Still I waited for the day  
When he'd say  
I will always love you

Lonely and forgotten  
Never thought he'd look my way  
And he smiled at me  
And held me  
Just like he used to do  
Like he loved me  
When he loved me

When Yuan loved me  
Everything was beautiful  
Every hour spent together  
Lives within my heart

When he loved me...

My name is Martel, I was not always a summon spirit, and I was not always beloved by the people. I was not always the person I am today. I have many memories, hundreds collected together, yet even now, I find myself peeking into the oldest of them, the true memories that belong solely to me and no one else. I used to have a lover, you know?

His name was Yuan Kaafei, he was my best friend, we were going to get married.

Then I died, and that does seem to ruin marriage plans, doesn't it? I never knew that he would move on. All I truly knew in the container, was that he needed me, he could not _live_ without me, he had told me so himself. I felt guilty, that instead of listening and flying to Yuan in that girl -Colette's- body, I allowed myself to be removed once more.

When I became a summon spirit, I gained knowledge, more than I would ever need or want, and with that knowledge, I understood.

It hurt, it really did, that first time he came to the tree and discovered that I was not _his_ Martel and he began to shrug me off more and more. He still flinches when I touch him, not because I'm a summons, or do it when he's least expecting it, no, it is because I am not _his_ anymore.

I never knew summon spirits could feel such pain, until I felt it myself, watching as he tried to drink away his troubles, never able to thanks to his now impossibly high poison tolerance. I felt horrid, I wanted _my_ Yuan back. For awhile, I stayed inside the tree, refusing to come out, pouting. I didn't want him, he'd _changed_.

Then I remembered, remembered that I too had changed. We had all changed. Kratos was so many things I would have never thought him to be, little brother was dead, and I was a summon spirit/goddess. Of us all, Yuan was the least changed. I vowed then, to make him happy again, to see his smile once more shine with true happiness.

So I brought back Kratos through trickery.

I should've known it was a temporary relief, especially after Yuan walked into the tree clearing doing the impossible, _crying_.

I remember when Yuan could cry, once upon a time, he didn't do often, and only in front of me, I had comforted him every time, and we were happy. But I could no longer comfort him, no matter how hard I tried. I hugged him tightly, and he hugged me back, accepting the comfort in that state. I sighed into his shoulder, and enjoyed it more than I knew I should've.

For a moment I was once more his true love, and he was whispering to me, _"I will love you forever_._"_ in the beautiful golden wheat fields, and we were together once more.

Than, the moment passed, and I was a summon spirit comforting my guardian angel.

I felt a little better.

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AN: Chapter 8 done, many to go.

Thoughts of the day: The song is When Somebody loved me from Toy Story 2, whenever I hear it it makes me cry and feel guilty because even when I was little the only time I played with toys was when I was transforming my Barbie dolls into cows or playing "Days of Our Lives" in which Ken realises he's pedo and in love with Kellie (it happened more than once, I was a strange child) but anyway, the only toy that I really ever played with is my Simba toy (I've actually had and loved it since six months if you can believe it) but I haven't cuddled with the poor guy in like two years, and I feel guilty listening to the song and thinking about it. (Why? Why guilt?)

So yeah.... I do kind of see Martel as the sort of cynical person who would feel better after realising she was comforting her gaurdian who is an angel, and therefore her "Gaurdian Angel", and I also think that she _is _selfish enough to want Yuan, even if she keeps trying to hook him up with Kratos, its a one-sided thing of course. You should listen to the song while you read it, I had to change it to fit the whole image, but it really fits in, don't you think? It was an experiment for me, I don't really do the whole first person POV, it kind of bothers me to get that in depth with my characters, but I was really depressed thanks to the damn song and Ouran Host Club Fanfic in which Haruhi DIESSSSSSSS I wrote, so yeah, I was pretty much rubbing my face raw with kleenex by the time I got to work on this, and then it was like, I can't write anymore Genis/Kratos interaction, I need to write something depressing. So yeah, I did the Martel thing so I can start on the next chapter, not sure how depressing it will be. I suppose its all just a matter of judgment anyway.

Oh yeah, on a cheerier note, who else has the mental image of naked Kratos standing in the rain with puppy dog eyes? Originally I was going to have him meet up with Raine, then I remembered something important, Lloyd was with Raine, and I have a very important scene planned for Lloyd and Kratos's meeting, so it can't happen so soon!


	9. Chapter IX My Happy Ending

Dreaming and Chasing promises

Chapter IX.

My Happy Ending

_You can't stay made at someone who makes you laugh._

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Raine had only seen a condition as bad as the one Zelos was in once in her life, and that person had died shortly after. But, Lloyd could not lose Zelos, he would come back, and Zelos would be the one dragging him along, and all would be well once more. tears streaming down her face, she worked, until she was exhausted, and still continued, until finally, she collapsed, unable to work on him anymore. But, the red-headed ex-chosen continued to breath, and his wounds began to heal. He was saved, perhaps, by Lloyd's sacrifice.

"Ugh..." sitting up slightly, the chosen looked around himself, shocked. It had been only a few hours he had been in the warehouse, with his wounds and fever, he was lucky to be alive, but able to move with only a slight ache, it had to be impossible! He checked himself over, and looked around once more, spotting Rain besides him, unconscious. He furrowed his brow, even with her healing abilities, she wouldn't have been able to heal him so completely.

_"Zelos Wilder."_ spotting the summons was harder than he would have thought, hoarded into the corner as she was.

"Martel?" he questioned in shock.

_"I need a favor. In exchange, I have healed you, and will grant you aid in retrieving your lover_._"_ he may not have been really sure what the hell was going on, but agreeing with Martel sounded like a really good idea, she'd never led him astray before, not that she'd ever had the chance.

"Okay."

Martel blinked, as if surprised by his easy compliance, _"Kratos has returned, but has amnesia. Yuan was taking care of him until he would recover, but he ran away. In his mind, he has never met me, you, or his son before. Only Yuan. I need you to find him as soon as you get Lloyd."_

"Oka...... what?" Zelos glared, "Kratos. Is. Back?" he ground out.

_"Yes." _she answered, completely unaware of the damage she'd just unleashed.

In Flanoir, a blizzard began, heavy winds swept Meltokio, rainstorms -such as the one Kratos himself was currently in at the time- hit Palmacosta, Luin was nearly destroyed by high level floods, and the city of Heimdall was evacuated as a mountain collapsing earthquake hit -though that was really the fault of whoever had the ingenious idea to build a city besides a gorge-, all in all, it was a generally bad day for the world, and it all happened at the exact same moment the full realisation that Kratos _was _back hit Zelos, though if that had anything to do with it was hard to say.

"You do realise this is unacceptable, right?" he asked, looking quite ungrateful to his saviour.

_"As are a lot of things in the world,"_ Martel asked coldly, her glare as hard as steel, _"As such, you will save Lloyd, and you will retrieve Kratos and bring him back to Yuan, and then you will continue on with your miserable existence as you would if you had never even known Kratos had come back. And you will do it happily." _unbeknown to the general population, Martel had not always been such a sweet gentle soul, in fact, she was often listed in her friend's memories as the one to teach the badass-est person in the badass universe badass-ery -Kratos-. Naturally, Zelos didn't know this, and wondered for a moment if Summon Spirits could suffer from PMS symptoms.

"Fine. I'll hop right to it." he got up, and tried to cover his embaressment at having absultly no power over a kind-hearted summon spirit with grumpiness, began to leave.

_"Zelos Wilder." _Martel called before he could leave.

"What?" he hissed.

_"You may want to put on pants."_she replied, having the decency to at least look embarrassed, not that she was, she had a quite a bit of memories in _that _department. It was a shame really, how much debauchery chosens got into once they hit puberty, in fact, the only one pure she'd ever seen was the one whose memories she'd only glimpsed, Colette, she believed, but that might've been because she wasn't a very quick-witted girl.

"While I prefer going in the nude, I _suppose _I'll have to put on pants, if you insist." Martel, having dealt with male machismo -especially partially nonexistent male machismo- nearly all her life, allowed it, the poor guy had been through a lot after all, the next time he showed that snark though, he wouldn't get off so lucky.

_"Hurry back, and don't use elfen magic, she's immune!"_To a person looking from the outside in, the scene that appeared out of this would be of a very irresponsible mother cheerfully waving at her son as he set off on a long life-threatening journey that would involve saving the world from things that should be delt with by far more experienced people -cough_pokemoncough_-. Of course, to those with more common sense, it would be obvious that this was not the case, seeing as Zelos was to old to save the world.

With that, Zelos made his way on a dangerous journey that he really shouldn't have anything to do with for the second -no wait third, he always forget to count the exsphere hunt as _dangerous_- time.

It should be noted, that the full impact of the fact that Zelos had just been kidnapped, tortured, and accidentally forced his lover to sacrifice himself for him hadn't really reached him yet. But, whistling show tunes as he walked towards the mysteriously close-by Mylktar ruins was a bit much.

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While his lover whistled show tunes and argued over which attack he should use on the bitch who had kidnapped him, Lloyd was in a bit different position.

To be more specific, he was tied to a bed, staring in incredulous horror as the half-elven woman who had kidnapped him and attempted to rape him, tried to figure out how to go about raping him. There is a long standing law of nature that says it is impossible to rape a male, which is untrue, unless you don't have the proper equipment to go about it. In fact, for all intents and purposes, she had no clue how to go about actually bedding a person, much less raping them, so she sat and did very naughty things to herself while trying to figure out a way to start their new 'relationship'.

"Perhaps if you got a clip-on." for somebody who didn't want it to happen, Lloyd was being very helpful in trying to figure this one out, mostly because he was pretty sure that he was about to be rescued at any moment anyway, and he was saving his depressive madness for the occasion when Zelos told him they couldn't do it, or didn't want to try out some of his _ideas_.

"No, that doesn't count, it's practically masturbating if you ask me." Lloyd stared blankly at her.

"Oh. Well what if you got a banana and-" Ember sighed and began to rub her left nipple thoughtfully as opposed to her chin.

"No, that certainly wouldn't work."

"Oh...." the two settled into silent contemplation.

"Do you suppose if I straddled you it would count as rape?" she asked him after a moment.

"I'm not very sure on the laws of rape, seeing as I have an active and willing lover, but I think rape has to involve some sort of penetration." she sighed.

"This is really getting us nowhere, maybe if you raped _me_, it would work out." Lloyd, though often thought to be as not-very-bright as Colette, was a quick thinker on his feet.

"No, the evil league of evil would never accept that, you _are_ the elven seductress after all."

"Half-elven seductress." she corrected.

"Half-elven seductress." he agreed.

"You know, I think the reason I don't like to do anything but destroy things is that my father, grandpa, uncle, older brother, little brother, most of my peers, and random males I met on the street as a young child raped me several times." Lloyd, who had never gotten the concept of 'keep them talking' but liked to listen to these reasonings of evilness before killing off said evil people, questioned her anyway.

"So, you're problems all trace back to rape?" he questioned, she gave him a blank look.

"No, it was just called that in court when I sued them, really I was very willing."

"Oh.... your personality leaves much to be desired."

"Well I'm not here to please you...." they stared at each blankly for a moment, "Ignore that last comment!" she shouted. Lloyd sighed.

"Can I put some clothes on, it's cold in here." she appeared to be thinking about it very hard, especially with how hard she was rubbing now.

"I suppose that's a good argument, but as soon as I figure out how to go about raping you, it is on!" shrugging, Lloyd got up and began to get dressed. He couldn't believe his luck, who would've ever guessed the half-elven seductress who didn't like anything but him and destroying things and appeared to have amazing powers that weren't in the realm of half-elves to have would've been such an idiot? Really.

"So... can I go for a walk?" he asked, pushing his luck a bit.

"No, I'm keeping you close by!" she said, having gotten at least the basic half-elven seductress lessons -which sadly didn't include how to rape somebody, naturally, seductresses should _never_ have to resort to _that_.

"Fine." Lloyd said, annoyed like a little child that she was smart enough to foil that plan, not that you could really call it a plan, it was just going outside then running as fast as his red boots could carry him.

"You know, according to reliable sources, you should be traumatized right now." Lloyd glared at her, already pissed off at her as it was.

"I will angst when I feel like angsting!" he shouted back immaturely.

"Hm... you're not nearly as badass and manly as I thought you were." she narrowed her at him and rubbed her right chin that wasn't a chin.

"Does that mean you'll let me go?" he asked, hope clear in his tone.

"No, I'll just have to train up your angstness and badassness." Lloyd sighed.

"I really don't like you." it was at that moment that Zelos walked in and performed a very nice tempest in Ember, knocking her unconscious.

"Lloyd! I've come to save you!" shouted out Zelos as he struck a dramatic pose. Lloyd jumped up and hugged Zelos tightly.

"Oh, Zelos! You are my hero!" they began to make out, "Let's get some food!" Ember managed to wake up, do a death prattle, then die, while Lloyd and Zelos rode off into the sunset on two conveniently placed horses, until Zelos remembered that Kratos was alive, and then it all sort of whent downhill.

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Zelos woke up, his vision blurry, above him, a concerned Raine and Colette hovered, watching him as he slowly came into consciousness. It wasn't exactly the sight he would've liked to waken to after such a horrible dream, of course, he had no idea it was a dream until he realised that Colette had not been recognised in said dream, which therefore make this a not-dream. Ugh... Zelos was pretty sure he still had a really bad fever from how confused he was getting.

"Is he going to be okay, professor?" questioned clutzy blonde.

"I believe so, thanks to you discovering us applying all those apple gels, all his wounds have healed, and he just needs to recover from his fever." huh, that would explain the whole Martel thing, not so much the badass-ery.

"I'm glad! Once Zelos gets better, we can save Lloyd from the terrible person, right?" Raine nodded, before looking confused.

"You know, it hadn't occurred to me until this moment that none of us know her name..." Zelos blinked once. He blinked twice. He blinked a third time for good measure.

_How the hell did I know her name was Ember?!!!_

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AN: Chapter 9 done, many to go.

Thoughts of the day: Had you running there huh? The reason this is more of a crack!fic then anything else is that it is 3:79 (Edit: God, I am so sleepy... what time is 3: 79 anyway?) AM, I just spent eight hours in a movie theater watched "Monsters Vs. Aliens" and "Land of the Lost", with my boyfriend who likes to plot world domination and other _things_, such as the advantage of hanging out in dark alleyways for those who want to get raped (Him as we're walking by an alley behind the theater: Hey look! We should hang out there after the movie and get raped!)

Now, I _am_aware that rape is a terrible terrible terrible terrible (Cont. for another 175 plus pages) thing, and many woman who are raped are not allowed into society despite the fact that there is really no difference between a raped woman and a woman who just had sex other than consent. But, god if rape isn't so damn funny when you use it like a dumass unaware of the **horribleness** it causes to millions of women each year.

(^ bolded word equals hint to question)

So yeah, anyway, I wrote the first paragraph, went to the theater with my boyfriend (who gives me lots of ideas, it helps that he's bi), and then wrote up the whole "dream sequences" I mean, at first they were serious, but I've been reading crack adled fics, like the ones where Harry Potter goes back in time and takes over the world in a hilarious way, or where Naruto Uzumaki wins slaves through poker. So yeah.... I'm just not in the proper mood to type up as serious a fic as this should be.... so I just went, "screw it" and turned it into a cheap dream sequence.

Hey! I made pop references in this one, I don't usually do that, espeically since my characters would have no idea what _they_were talking about, but once I typed in show toons I knew I had to do it (like from land of the lost "There will be no show toons on this boat!" still cracks me up), so yeah, try and guess what the other very easy to guess what the reference is!!!! And its not pokemon!

Yeah... I'm going to bed now before I start doing something dangerous, like killing off a character through overdosages of banana peel or some shit that only my darker side would do (though imanging from a Series of Unfortunate Events dying from an overdosage of banana peel is a pretty damn funny thought) Oh, and I like Colette, but if you were about to sacrifice yourself to a goddess, wouldn't you be getting it on? And it's not like you _had_to be a virgin, just look at Zelos!

Oh, one more thing, it is pretty much agreed that a man can't be raped, fanfiction disproves that theory, but only if its a man raping a man, something that "polite" (and I use that term lightly) society can't quite wrap their family-friendly heads around (I would insert an insult here, but it would just make _me_ look like an idiot). However, when it's a woman raping a man, I'm pretty sure that the theory works out. From what I gather, according to "society" if a woman wants to straddle a man, a man's going to let her go at it, therefore discounting it as rape....

I think if I had to chose between society and Ember Royalle (who I hate so much I don't even torture -I convey love to my characters through torture!-), I would choose Ember Royalle.

Oh yeah, just thought I'd mention my awesome new desk and chair! until yesterday I was using a bookshelf as my computer desk and a kitchen chair as my comp chair. Then, this lady started to give away old stuff she didn't want anymore, and I got a Kratos-sensei worthy desk and office chair! So happy! However, tomorrow.... first day of Highschool.... With a skunk themed backpack.... I am so dead.


	10. Chapter X Windows to the Soul

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapters X.

Windows of the Soul

_I look at them, and they look back with those incredible eyes, smile, and it pathetically makes my entire day._

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_"Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!_

_Fremde, etranger, stranger!_

_Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchante, happy to see you,_

_Bleide, reste, stay!"_ Yuan sighed, not really paying attention to the act going on onstage. He was drowning himself in a bottle of the finest whiskey they had in the place, trying drink away his depression. The music was so unfitting of his mood that he ignored it completely.

_"Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!_

_Im cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!_

_Meine damen und herren, mesdames et messieurs, ladies and gentlemen,_

_Comment ca va? Do you feel good?_

_Ich bin euer confrecier, je suis votre compere, I'm your host!_

_Und sagen._

_Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!_

_Im cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!"_as soon as Martel had allowed him to leave on the excuse that he was tired, he had hauled ass over here. It was strange, he was actually getting drunk for once! It was amazing, he was mortal and immortal at the same time. Of course, there were problems, while he couldn't die of alcohol poison, if he got that way, he would find himself with either a permanent hangover, or permanently drunk, though at this point both seemed to hold some appeal to him. He looked up at the stage and noticed the act was changing, an elderly woman talked with another person, who had arrived from a train apparently and began to sing.

_"You say fifty gald, I say one hundred gald._

_A difference of fifty gald, why should that stand in our way?_

_As long as the room's to let, the fifty that I will get is fifty more then I had yesterday, aha!_

_When you're as old as I- Is anybody as old as I? What difference does it make?"_Yuan found her amusing as she sang the song, especially as she was dressed in such modest clothes while the regular strippers, dressed in cabaret outfits, danced behind her shamelessly. His thoughts were getting mixed up in the show he realised.

_"An offer comes, you take!_

_ For the sun will rise and the moon will set, _

_and you'll learn how to settle for what you get, _

_i__t'll all go on if we're here or not._

_So, who cares, so what?_

_So, who cares, so what?"_ he blinked, that made sense. he just... _needed _to accept that whether or not Kratos loved him or not was unimportant, it wasn't like him not being loved by Kratos would destroy the entire universe. The old lady departed, and after a while, a new face appeared, she was very beautiful, and dressed in far fancier clothes than anybody had come out with yet, even it was just a silk pants with slits up the sides.

_"Mama,_

_Thinks I'm living in a convent._

_A secluded little convent,_

_In the southern part of Meltokio._

_Mama,_

_Doesn't even have an inkling that I'm working in a nightclub,_

_In a pair of lacy pants." _Yuan blinked, the girl had redish pink hair, was half-elven, and for some reason reminded him of Zelos.

_"So, please, sir,_

_If you run into my mama,_

_Don't reveal my indiscretion,_

_Give a working girl a chance._

_Hush up, don't tell mama!_

_Shush up, tell mama!_

_Don't tell mama whatever you do!"_Could it be his little sister? He'd never mentioned her, but Yuan would be an idiot if he didn't do some research. But... Wasn't Seles only thirteen or something? He watched without paying to much attention as she began her second song, surprised to see some resemblances to Zelos in her, but there was no way in hell she could be Seles, right? Certainly not, they would _never_ let a little girl like her into a nightclub!

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Seles Wilder, 5'3, 16 years old, a pinkette who just _couldn't _admit she loved her annoying brother, cleaned up after the show. So, lying about her age probably wasn't a good idea, but still, if her idiot of a brother wasn't going to visit her, and she was allowed out of the damn abbey, she might as well do something she'd always wanted to do. Seles had always been good at singing, and the cabaret tour had welcomed her like a long lost sibling to the show. Many claimed she was just made for the part, of course, they all thought she was eighteen and had experience. In all truths, she was just going by what she'd heard her brother talk about, not to _her_ of course, but when one can escape the abbey with ease and stalk somebody for awhile, they _hear_ things, things they normally wouldn't hear.

"Good job Seles." Joss, her boss said, smiling happily at her, "Why, in a few years, you'll be going professional and leaving us all behind!" she smiled, always happy in this free environment.

"You know I wouldn't do that, I'd drag you all along with me!" smiling innocently up at him, Joss was suddenly uncomfortable, he felt somehow he'd made the wrong decision about accepting Seles, he really got that feeling too often for his liking, but he shrugged it off, better leave it alone.

"Go ahead and relax for awhile." he went off to go relax about himself.

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Genis and Kratos sat across from each other, just staring. Genis was wearing a pair of pajamas, having had to change into some sort of clothes after soaking his casual ones, and not particulary liking the idea of his uniform getting wet as well. Kratos was unwillingly cloaked in some pastor robes, and glaring heavily at the half-elf.

"So... you really have no clue about _anything_?"

"No, I don't." he answered shortly, having received several variants of the question in the last few hours. Genis sighed.

"Sorry, it 's just.... well, it's really weird to see you act like this."

"What do you mean?" Kratos asked confused, his head tilted to the side slightly.

"It's just... well.... if you hadn't gone to Derris Kharlan you would've won the badass award for the.... 4,029th time this year." Kratos blinked.

"Wait, I went where?" Genis sighed, and went to explain in great detail the journey of the Chosen, connecting the worlds, Kratos departure, and when it still seemed to elude Kratos, went on to explain as much as he knew about Kratos's own past, not much, but enough to explain some things.

"So... yeah, that's as much as I know." Kratos put his head in his hands.

"I am an idiot! I'm a terrible person, father, and friend!" a large thud signaled the intimate relationship Genis's hand and the table now had with Kratos head.

"You are not going to go soap opera on me!" Genis shouted angrily, "We all have problems, so don't you dare think you have it worse than anybody else, you are going to go and find Lloyd, you are going to apologise for being a terrible father to him, avoid getting pummeled by his boyfriend, then tell him you have amnesia, do you hear me?" Kratos stared blankly at him.

"Lloyd has a boyfriend?" another loud thud signaled the fact that two heads now had a very intimate relationship with the poor cracked table -angel heads could do that.

"This is really getting us nowhere." Genis murmured.

"Genis, and... Teddy I believe your name was?"Kratos blinked, then remembered that Genis had given him a false name as Kratos was one generally wide spread by now, along with the other saviours of the world, though some were more popular others.

"Yes." 'Teddy' agreed.

"I was wondering if either of you two would be interested in joinng the five O'clock mass?"

"No thank you pastor." Genis said.

"Mass?" questioned Kratos at the same time. Then stopped himself from hitting himself over the head, Genius had covered this, they worshipped 'Martel', and though she was actually a summon spirit, nobody was aware of it other than the group, and therefore the religion remained widespread.

"Yes, have you not heard of Martel?" questioned the pastor, subtle horrified.

"Oh, I have, it's just... where I come from we don't have mass, my village is very poor so we hold feasts and connect through the spirit of Martel?" the line was cheesy and obviously made-up, but pretty good for thinking on his feet, and Pastor Marche bought it hook, line, and sinker.

"I see, would you like to come?"

"Ah.. no, I'm really tired, and I think I might be getting a fever from nearly passing out in the rain." the pastor nodded, having never really gotten the idea that somebody _could_ and _would_ lie to a pastor.

"I understand, perhaps tomorrow?"

"Uh... sure?' as soon as the pastor left he turned to Genis, "We are getting the hell out of here before noon." Genis paused a moment.

"When Raine tries to beat me up for ditching school, will you take the blame?" Kratos shrugged.

"I don't see what you're on about, she's just a girl." Genis sighed and shook his head, poor, poor Kratos wouldn't survive the punishment he would get for that.

"Okay, help me pack up, we'll be out of here tomorrow."

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AN: chapter 10 down, ton of a ton to go.

Thoughts of the day: I have a fever, and I was on a ToS run, and just kept thinking, "Why in the hell does everybody like Lloyd?" I mean, I like Lloyd, you obviously like Lloyd, we all like Lloyd. There are people who love to kill off Colette, think Raine is a bitch, just ignore Regal, call Sheena a tempermental bitch, don't use Presea, say Genis rhymes with penis, get pissed off at Kratos regularly, and purposely kill Zelos in the game for the fun of it.

What about Lloyd? The worst label he gets is 'idiot', and on some occasions is removed from the party because if you're not good at playing him and/or don't play him he'll fight the monsters into the same damn corner Raine is in. But other than that, everybody likes Lloyd.

What is it about him that can never make you hate him? Sure, sometimes he's annoying (going on, and on, and on, and on about his beliefs to enemies he _should_ be killing off) but really, who wouldn't do the same thing? He's idiotic, but we have control of most of his choices, and a lot of the time, we _make_ him sound idiotic.

So, is Lloyd somehow the perfect character? The ultimate unhateable character? Liked by all, fangirl/boy'ed by many, and only vaguely annoying? I mean, he has faults, but they're understandable and explainable. Like his idiocy, I mean, who wouldn't be a bit thick if they'd _fallen _off a frickin _cliff!_The red, he was raised by a dwarf, wears dwarven clothes, and taught dwarvan vows, now, I don't know about you, but when it comes to dwarves, if you ignore the drinking/gambling they've obviously picked up from goblins and their cursing (_everybody_ does that), they have some pretty damn good morals, when not under the influence. I mean, have you ever fought an _evil _dwarf? Besides the annoying ones who try to kill gods and steal things in norse mythology, they're obviously drunk or really don't like the norse gods (on a side note, they're not against killing people, as demonstrated by Lloyd several times)

So, to sum this up, the perfect unhateable character must be raised by a dwarf, have redeemable qualities, explainable faults, and wear annoying colors, along with having a higher moral sense placed in them, and perhaps falling off a cliff and being rendered a bit thick might help, or having a tragic past, oh! And you can't forget the good old fashioned child abuse shown several times, that had to help. (Sounds like Naruto... except for Naruto fails this because he has a catchphrase)

So, tell me why you don't hate Lloyd in a review.


	11. Chapter XI Served your purpose

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter XI

Served Your Purpose

_I don't love you because I need you; I need you because I love you._

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Regal Bryant, 6'0, a bluenette who found that despite being built on every woman's dream man -and some men- that he was not well-loved, glanced at the ruins in front of him and back at his charge. Presea Comabtir, 4'9, a petite pinkette who wielded an axe better than most axemen, followed loyally behind him. The two were close friends, and despite a few awkward tries, found that not only was it physically impossible for them to be anything more, but also mentally.

"Regal, I now that I'm just an assistant, but I still wish to now why you refuse to tell me why we are visiting a Sylvaranti ruin." Regal remained calm and didn't even sigh as others might, this wasn't the first time Presea had asked after all.

"Please be patient Presea, when we reach there you will see." they continued to walk. Between such quite companions, conversation was nonexistent, and therefore, the trip to the Mylktar ruins was rode out in silence. Just before they reached it, the bluenette stopped the pinkette.

"Yes?" she questioned.

"The sun will set soon." another few minutes passed, and as Regal pointed out, the sun began to set.

A beautiful thing was set in a motion. You see, long ago, before the humans took control over all the land elves possessed, this was the town known as Piazzo, as time passed, Piazzo became older and older, half-elves began to run it's crystal-lined streets and humans stole from its dazzling statues. Yet, even as the great Piazzo aged and became left to ruin, eventually being renamed Mylktar, one thing remained of its previous granduer.

The walls of Mylktar glowed an eerie red that was perhaps akin to the sun itself plus sparkles.

The two stood in awe of it, their stoic faces hiding their inner amazement.

"Regal... this is-" whatever synonym for amazing or beautiful Presea was going to use was cut off by a heart-wrenching, gut-slicing, soul-splitting scream of pure terror and fear.

"Presea!" the pinkette nodded, bringing out her axe while her guardian prepared himself for battle, the two took off towards the general direction of the scream. Only to stop dead in their tracks as they saw who it had been drawn from.

Lloyd Irving lay stretched out on the stone floor, his lip was bloodied, obviously from biting it to keep from screaming, until now. Above him, Ember stood in hysterics, a bloodied whip clutched in her hands.

"Love me!" she screamed, her screech identical to a harpies. Regal only just stopped the whip from coming down on the already heavy littered back.

"You will not harm our friend." Presea said, running forward, her axe held high.

"_Stop...._" the voice was hissed, obviously in pain, barely able to speak at all.

"Lloyd!" Regal said in concern.

"_Zelos... trade.... payment...._" Ember laughed maniacally.

"Yes, Lloydie belongs to me! He sold himself to me!" she laughed some more, for good measure. The pinkette glared, lodging her axe into the half-elf's back.

"Dead people don't own things." she said, and with a sickening squelch, pulled her axe free.

"While I don't condone such tendencies, that was appreciated Presea."

"_Not... dead...._" came Lloyd's pained murmur.

"Lloyd, I can assure you, she is dead." Regal bent down and checked, no pulse came, and then checked for a heartbeat.

"We must get him to Raine." Presea said quickly, washing off her axe hurriedly.

"Yes, hopefully she will have an explanation to this." the two -now three- set off, not a word to share between them.

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Zelos Wilder was delusional, Raine quickly noted, his fever was still very high, but his wounds seemed to be very small thanks Colette's apply of several apple gels. If the angel hadn't happened upon them, then it was possible that Zelos could have died during the night, but as it was, the ex-chosen was still sporting a fever and becoming delirious.

"Horses..." he murmured, asleep again. He had woken up for a few minutes awhile ago, but had otherwise spent most of his time back sleeping. Not that she blamed him, the fever meant he needed rest, the bruises and cuts he still sported meant even more so. But still... she was antsy about Lloyd's retrieval, if she wasn't worried about what sort of unstable powers this woman possessed, she would've gone and retrieved the man herself, as it was, Colette was retrieving Sheena, who would hopefully know where Regal and Presea were so they could quickly retrieve Lloyd before the bitch did anything to serious to him.

"Raine!" Colette and Sheena burst in through the door, both worried, and in Colette's case, exhausted from flying.

"Good, you tw-" Raine was interrupted as Regal and Presea burst in, carrying an unconscious and badly injured Lloyd.

"Help him!" somebody hissed, who seemed up to debate, but it didn't matter at that moment as the silver-haired woman made room for the bloodied man to be laid down. Hours seemed to pass as they stared down in desperation at Raine's work.

"He's not as badly injured as Zelos was, he should be okay for now."

"Zelos?" Sheena questioned while Colette brightened in relief.

"Yes, I'll explain." everyone nodded in agreement at that, "A half-elven woman kidnapped Zelos in order to have Lloyd. Who immediately chased after her with me, we discovered Zelos in a dangerous state, if we hadn't arrived when we had, I fear he may have died, as it is, he's only been awake five minutes in that last few hours. Lloyd, in order to save Zelos, allowed himself to be taken by Ember, as she has... powers."

"Powers?"

"Yes, it seems that she has some sort of control over mana itself."

"That would seem impossible, if I hadn't heard of such thing before." everyone turned to Sheena for explanation she blushed and continued, "Half-elves can heal people, it's one their talents, but they also had have talents over the elements, usually explaining that they have a limited control of mana. But there are theories that with some half-elves, there is a third ability. Pronyma displayed it best, the ability to control mana to a higher degree. But, Pronyma didn't have complete control over it, most of us assume that it's because of her exsphere, it's interference with her own mana may have disrupted her entire control over outer mana. So.. yeah." she blushed and coughed a little.

"Woah..." Colette said before she could stop herself, at everyone's looks, she answered, "You were channeling Professor Raine."

"Well... we should allow the boys to rest, tomorrow they may be awake enough for us to speak with them." a heavily insulted Raine said, pushing the others out quickly, then exiting herself to grade papers in the schoolhouse.

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"_Zelos..._" a pained whisper filled the almost empty room.

"Lloyd?" came the groggy, but still pained reply.

"Are you... there?" the man asked from his bed, unable to even roll over and check.

"Yeah." the reply was short and tired, the redhead wanted to sleep some more, for some reason, sleep felt safer than real life, because at least his dreams did not hold the horrid feel of delirium.

"You okay?" his throat felt better, and his voice gained strength as he spoke, but still, his body burned with pain.

" 'M sleepy..." Zelos replied.

"Zel... why do you love me?" the brunette felt the words slip out even as he thought of something else to ask. Sleep was not his friend, it was a horrid thing, filled with delirium.

"Cause you're my bud." he replied easily, as if rehearsed. Lloyd wrenched himself up, biting his tongue to keep from screaming.

"Zelos, tell me the truth." the redhead was laying next to him, eyes only half-open and glazed, his lips slightly chapped.

" 'M sleep Lloyd." came the reply, as the ex-chosen curled himself around Lloyd's arm.

"You can go to sleep when you tell me." the feverish man glared as well as he could and sat up, trying not to use the heavily bandaged Lloyd as a helper. He kissed him on the lips, not their usual kiss, not gentle, but not rough, perhaps mild wasn't the word to explain the midpoint it was at. It was filled with love, lust, and passion. It was everything they weren't and could be. Perhaps, the best words to describe it were 'first kiss', even if it was definitely not.

"That's your answer." said the irate Zelos, collapsing into the bed gently, so he wouldn't open up any cuts. Lloyd touched his lips, wincing slightly as he pulled at his slashed back.

"That's a pretty good answer..." he murmured to the night, and curled up next to his lover, trying to find a position that was most comfortable.

The lovers slept in silence, neither eagerly awaiting the dawn.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AN: Chapter eleven down, ? to go. (Nobody's guessed! Pouts)

Thoughts of the day: I've been thinking.... does anybody want me to go through the dumb canon and have Emil and Marta? I've never written them before, but it's been a year since the world regeneration journey, and I kind of want to add them just so I can show how things would work out. Of course, the Yuan/Kratos extra scene wouldn't be used, but I kind of know how to make everything else fit into it, but only if you guys want me to. I'm going to take a vote, so let me just add a new section with everything that's up for debate.

Debate corner:

1. Mpreg?

A) go for it with both Yuatos and Llolos! (I don't see why those aren't accepted, their very fun to pronounce)

B) go for it, but only Llolos

C) go for it, but only Yuatos

D) Don't do it, it's a bad idea (This is a joke option, I'm still going to do it)

2. Emil and Marta?

A) Do it! Do it! Do it!

B) NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

C) do it, but change _alot_.

3. How many chapters do you think there are?

(Write in an answer)

Pleading desperately for reviews corner:

Please tell me what you think! I love to know if I doing something good, or if I'm adding to much drama, or if I'm just not doing a good job. I want this to be one of the best yoai fanfics out there! (If you haven't been able to tell, I'm a very arrogant person, but my ego is very small, so please stroke it!)


	12. Chapter XII Sweet and Low

Dreaming and Chasing Promises

Chapter XII

Sweet and Low

_"What is love? What is strife? What is a knack for riding horses?"_

* * *

Yuan felt sick, he felt sicker than he'd ever felt in his entire life, Martel was glaring down at him, and his night before came back to him. He sat up slowly and unsure, a head ache pounding. He rubbed his head and groaned, beginning to pull dry leaves out of his hair.

_"Yuan." _Martel said, in a voice that said he was in trouble.

"Yes?"

_"If you don't go and find Kratos I'm going to hurt you."_ Yuan flopped over.

"He doesn't want to see me."

_"Yuan."_ she warned.

"We don't even know where he is."

_"He's with Genis, headed towards Iselia."_

"So he's going to have a great, big memory-inducing tearful reunion with his son, whoop-dee-freakin-doo." Martel glared.

_"Yuan, Kratos loves you."_

"He thinks I'm a liar and not really me."

_"At the current time he does, when he reaches Iselia it may be a different story."_

"So your saying I should arrive after said tearful reunion in hopes we may have a tearful reunion?"

_"That would sum up my feelings, yes."_

"Hell no." she began to kick him, "That hurts."

_"I know it does, and I will follow you around for all of eternity kicking you unless you go to Iselia to meet up with Kratos." _Yuan glared and sat up.

"Psychotic bitch." Martel glared down.

_"What was that?"_

"Nothing." he stood up and dusted himself off, "Look, I'll go to Iselia, don't expect anything." Martel smiled sweetly.

_"Good, now leave before I decided to do something dangerous."_

"I'm going, I'm going."

* * *

"So how far to... Iselia?" he tested the word unsure.

"Well, it's a long journey if we're on foot, luckily, we won't be."

"What do you mean?"

"My friend, Sheena, is going to do us a favor, by summoning Aska to fly us there."

"Aska?" he asked incredulously, "Aska doesn't exist!"

"Shows how much you know!" he turned, surprised to see a ninja women standing on the wall above them, "Geez, Genis, you weren't joking about him." she jumped down with an acrobatic ease to stand in front of them.

"Kratos, this is Sheena, I've mentioned her."

"Uh... yeah." Kratos replied, his face slightly ashen as he tried not to stare.

_"Dammit Kratos! You're loyal to Yuan! You must carry his man babies!"_

"What?" Kratos asked his voice blankly.

"Huh?" Genis asked.

"Oh no, I wasn't talking to you, just the voice."

_"You must find Yuan and let him fuck you! You must! You must! You must!"_

"It's name is Anna, and it's not sounding so logical anymore." Genis and Sheena looked at each other worriedly.

"Yeah Kratos, it's best not to listen to Anna..."

"I'll... erm, just summon Aska now." Sheena said, pondering on why she kept getting into these uncomfortable situations.

_"What is it you wish, summoner?"_

"Carry Genis and Kratos to Iselia!"

_"As you wish."_ with that, they were off, Genis smiling in delight and Kratos screaming in horror.

* * *

AN: Oh... so short, but it's something, right? Sorry it's been awhile, my computer died and I lost all my files of this story, so now I have to make up as I go along, (I did try to replan it, but that didn't work out well, it's also why it took so long for this chapter to get to you guys.)

Thoughts of the day: My grandma bought me this book "The Good Earth" and told me she'll pay me five bucks to read it. She insists it's good, but she also refuses to read Harry Potter or Stephen King, and insists on reading the dryest mystery novels I've ever seen. Anyone else think it's good?

Also, anyway get what that quote means? I thinks its funny, so the first person to say what it means in a comment gets the next chapter dedicated to them.


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